The Force of Destiny
by pieces-of-jade
Summary: Modern AU No foul language, etc. It's Arthur vs Lance in the bid for Prime Minister this year-not to mention the heart of Guinevere! Who will win? Arthur/Guinevere and Merlin/Freya Hope you enjoy! THIS STORY WILL MOST LIKELY REMAIN UNFINISHED DUE TO A LACK OF INTEREST ON THE AUTHOR'S PART. SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.
1. Chapter 1

Note: I do not own Merlin (but I gladly would). Furthermore, I do not know much about the English political system. I tried to stay semi-factual, but the only knowledge I have is whatever pops up on google. If I've made any grievously large errors don't hesitate to correct me! I would've picked a different profession for Arthur, but since he's the king in legends, I figured a political role would be the best fit in an AU. Also, the street names/places are mostly fictional. Pardon my lack of geographical knowledge of the UK.

Arthur Pendragon was the 10th wealthiest man in England, the most eligible-and handsome-bachelor in the country, and this year's favorite to win the election for the office of Prime Minister. And he was exhausted. He had just finished up solving a particularly difficult problem in his campaign, and all he wanted to do was go home, have a drink, and lie down.

Arthur's family was entrenched in the British political system. Arthur's too-many-greats grandfather was actually royalty. However, over the years the gene pool widened out and Arthur lost count in what "number" he was in line for the throne. It didn't matter to him though, since he figured his miniscule amount of royal blood didn't allow him anymore of a chance to secure the throne than that of someone who was 100% a commoner. Arthur's grandfather had been the prime minister, and his father, Uther, was involved in international politics through the wildly successful Pendragon Industries he pioneered. It specialized in military strategies and weapons, and boasted to have some of the greatest minds of this generation employed under its wing. Many countries sought Uther Pendragon's vast military knowledge, and through these means the Pendragons increased their already large fortune.

However, although he was fabulously wealthy, Arthur preferred to take modest means of transportations from point A to point B. In this case, that meant taking the tube home. As he stepped out into the cool evening air from his office the ghost of a smile was on his face. He was exhausted, yes, but it had been a productive day. He had gained several points over his opponent, Lance DuLac in the polls, and was quite pleased. As he walked to the tube few people recognized him.

'They never did', Arthur humorously thought. Although his face was plastered over every square inch of London, people rarely expected Arthur to be the type of man who would be walking around on the street. In fact, when someone recognized him, they typically thought he just bore a "similar resemblance" to the Arthur from the posters.

Once he reached the tube station and boarded, Arthur sat down and closed his eyes. He needed to clear his head from any thoughts about work. Instead, he wanted to concentrate on the lovely new intern at his work-what was her name?

'Perhaps Vivian', Arthur finally concluded. Her beautiful long blonde hair, grey-green eyes, ivory skin, and _other_anatomy was on Arthur's mind as the train screeched to a stop with a jolt. Arthur's eyes flew open with the doors as people scurried out and into the transportation device.

He noticed that in the recent influx of people, there were now more people who stood up than sat down. As the tube started moving again, the sudden lurch sent one of the people standing tumbling down into his lap.

The first thing Arthur noticed about her was probably _not _the best part of her body to be acquainted with a complete female stranger. However he couldn't help it since the girl tried to stop herself from falling, but only ended up making the landing more awkward. It's not to say that she was showing an indecent amount of skin-far from it, as she was bundled up against the harsh winter weather. But she had still landed with her chest in his face and her chair as his lap.

After the initial shock of being so close to an intimate part of the female body, he looked up to see her face a healthy shade of scarlet which contrasted beautifully with her dark sun-kissed skin.

"I'm _so_terribly sorry!" she said, as she practically leapt off of him.

Arthur only laughed and said, "No worries-"

"Guinevere Leodegrance. But most people call me Gwen."

"No worries Guinevere," Arthur said with a smile.

For indeed, he mused, if anyone could've fallen into his lap no one more lovely could've done it. Thoughts of the blonde-haired intern quickly fled his mind and were replaced with images of the angel in front of him. She had dark curls which were messily pinned up into a resemblance of what could've been a neat bun at one point in the day. However, most of her hair, and head, were covered up by the lavender colored beanie she wore upon her head. She wore a long pea coat which matched the shade of her hat, and had a cream colored plaid pattern on it. She wore light brown leggings with cream legwarmers and soft brown boots along with a milk chocolate colored scarf which was neatly tucked into her jacket. As he checked her out, he noticed that she had a very large, yet fashionable, satchel that seemed to weigh as much as she did. Or, at least as far as he could tell since what he assumed was a very light frame underneath all of her layers. Furthermore, she held a large pile of books, files, and miscellaneous papers in her arms along with a mug of coffee.

"Please, sit down," Arthur insisted as he began to stand.

Guinevere merely turned a deeper shade of scarlet-something Arthur personally thought was impossible, and quickly rebuffed him with a hurried, "No thanks."

"Really," Arthur said, "I insist. You've got a lot in your arms, and I merely have this."

He gestured to his laptop bag, and gestured his now vacated seat to Guinevere.

"No, really, I'm fine. The next stop is mine," she muttered, not wanting to cause a scene.

Arthur's eyebrows raised in surprise. He said, "Really? How fortunate, for mine is too. Please let me make amends for causing you embarrassment and help you carry your things for as long as our paths align."

Guinevere raised her eyebrows as she snorted and said, "Honestly, how many girls do you use that line on? It wasn't even your fault, since the train is the cause of this…mess."

Arthur laughed. She wasn't as demure as he initially perceived.

"I promise you, I don't make a habit of picking up random girls," he said. 'Although that was actually only a half-truth' Arthur thought. Although it was true now, he had "made his rounds" so to speak when he was younger, and his reputation stayed with his buddies who he often went out with. Now, although the "player" reputation lingered, he actually hadn't been with a girl for quite some time. Sure, there was the odd beauty here and there for a much needed date for a social function, but nothing more than that. Moreover, this girl was physically a knock-out. 'And', Arthur noted, 'there seemed to be something more to her.'

Guinevere looked at him suspiciously. Yet there was something about the man's eyes which compelled her to believe him. 'Not to mention,' Gwen thought, 'his rugged good looks.' It had hardly escaped her notice-especially when she landed straight into his lap. She could already tell from the brief interaction she had with him that he had a six-pack, firm chest, and a light tan. These traits, coupled with his strong jaw, golden hair, and dazzling baby blues, made him the epitome of what Gwen supposed the definition of "drop-dead gorgeously handsome" would be. However, she was not foolish. She didn't even know the man's name!

"I would love to accept your chivalrous offer, but I don't even know your name," was the best "smooth and cool" reply Gwen could come up with. Even as she spoke she was proud of herself. Normally she was a stuttering fool in front of people she didn't know well-especially extremely good-looking men.

Arthur raised his eyebrows once more in amusement as an inner battle took over in his mind. On one hand, he felt stupid for not mentioning his name earlier and wanted to spit it out quickly in hopes of her agreeing. After all, there was not much time left before they had to stop, and this may be the last time he ever saw the beautiful Guinevere. On the other hand, however, Arthur didn't wish to tell her his name. As beautiful and intriguing as she seemed from the brief interaction they had, he didn't want her to treat him as "The Arthur Pendragon". In the end, his eagerness to get to know her better won out. He figured that she would eventually solve his "oh so mysterious" identity even if he never told her and they parted ways. And he dearly did **not**want to part ways with her.

"Arthur Pendragon," he said, as the train again lurched to a stop.

Gwen couldn't hear him over the screeching breaks, but she saw his mouth moving. And, since he replied, she decided to take him up on his offer. After all, it really didn't matter if they were strangers. It's not as if she expected to meet this Adonis again. 'Even if they did,' Gwen thought, 'I can always say I don't remember his name, or didn't hear it. Then at least I would have an excuse, even if it was embarrassing, to talk this handsome man again!'

Arthur smiled, and all traces of his previous exhaustion fled. He quickly took up the copious amount of documents she held in her hands, the proffered seat quickly forgotten, as he led the way out of the doors.

As they walked out into the open air the street lights turned on. The swarms of people which generally littered the area increased as rush hour was nigh.

"Where are you headed?" Arthur asked politely.

Gwen took out a phone after a few minutes of rummaging through her large vacuum of a purse. After quickly typing in an address, which she hid from Arthur, she found the directions to her home.

"Up to Townsend, then I'll make a right," Gwen said. Then, with a more apologetic tone, she quickly added, "Sorry, I'm new to this district. So I don't know my way around much. And I would've asked someone for help, it's not like I'm above that-not that I couldn't ask you since you live around here. I mean I think you do-that's not to say that I know. I mean, I figured that I have this fancy phone why not use it? Wait-I mean…. I mean, I just moved here a few days ago." She finished her ramblings lamely.

'Stupid!' she thought, 'why would I tell a complete stranger this? And I thought that I was **done **with rambling! Especially in front of someone as sexy as him...' However, her self-deprecating rant came to an end with the sound of Arthur's deep guffaw.

"Guinevere, it's ok," he extracted a free arm from underneath her papers to kindly pat her on the arm as he finished his sentiment, "You don't need to explain yourself to use your own phone."

Although Arthur wouldn't admit it, but he loved her ramblings. He was curious about how he could already use the word "love" to describe how he felt about her-even if it was just a little aspect of her personality. He hadn't even been with Guinevere for an hour, yet it felt...right. He loved that she cared enough about his opinions and feelings to attempt to explain herself to him. Even if it was what to her was a complete stranger's feelings.

"You know, I also make a right at Townsend," Arthur said casually. He tried not to sound too ecstatic about the chance to spend more time with her.

"Oh?" Gwen said, "Well after that I'm off to the Red District. You know, the one sort of by that really rich neighborhood…what is it called? Albion Heights or something"

Here, Arthur shifted slightly, feeling uncomfortable for he did not know if Guinevere would approve or disapprove of the fact that he lived _there._ In the "really rich neighborhood" of Albion Heights. It was here that Arthur realized that he already sought her approval. 'Idiot,' he thought, 'you've just met her! And now you're already thinking about her opinion like it's the law!'

Gwen could sense the shift in the atmosphere. It was almost tangible as the handsome blonde man brooded. She quickly thought over what she said that could change his demeanor and nearly slapped herself in the face.

'Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean…I mean if you live in the Heights it wasn't supposed to be an offence. Erm, I've never been over there you know! I just know their general direction. Unless you don't live there, of course. In which case nevermind. Maybe you just know someone who lives there…I mean, not that I'm trying to pry…erm,' here Guinevere paused. They had been so wrapped up in the other's presence and the conversation that they didn't realize they had already turned right at Townsend, and reached the part of George St. which separated the two neighborhoods. That is, until they _had_reached it.

Arthur softly let out a breath he had unconsciously been holding once he realized she didn't mind the area he lived in. In fact, she was nearly tripping over herself in an attempt to apologize for her perceived offence! This woman was far different from the confident woman he met on the tube, but yet somehow he could tell that it was still her. This was just another side of her personality he was seeing. He was fascinated. He wondered how many other sides she had to her, and hoped to find out more.

He smiled, "It's alright Guinevere." Then he quickly rushed out, "But would you terribly mind if I walked you to your door?" He looked to the ground sheepishly.

Guinevere blushed, although Arthur couldn't tell in the faint light. It was a sweet gesture from him, but she knew what her roommate would think if she showed up with this handsome stranger at her door. And something told her that her brother would most definitely **not **approve.

"Actually, I wouldn't," she said. Here he looked up with hope filling his eyes. Gwen could see them even in the faint light, and sadly, but quickly added, "But my roommate would **definitely**mind."

"Ah," was all Arthur could say. He knew it was too good to hope that this beautiful angel didn't have a boyfriend.

"Oh," Gwen's eyes got round as she realized what he thought, "No no, you misunderstood me. My roommate-he's my brother." She then tacked on, as an afterthought, "He helps with the rent."

"Well then in that case, here's my card," Arthur said. He quickly pulled out a business card and pen and scribbled a telephone number on the back, saying, "That's my personal line, if you want it. Thank you for allowing a complete stranger to help you home. Although I hope you don't think of me as a stranger anymore."

And with that, he gently gave her back her belongings, although with a hint of hesitation since he didn't want her carrying the heavy items again. Then, unexpectedly, he quickly swooped down and brushed her cheek with a light, chaste kiss.

"Good night Guinevere Leodegrance," were his final parting words.

As Arthur walked away towards the Heights, and Guinevere towards the Red District, the only thing which was on her mind was the feeling of his lips on her cheek. The feeling consumed her; it was as if her skin was aflame. However, as she reached her door and took out her key, reality came smashing through her sensations. The harsh reality of, "How come I don't feel _this _when Lance kisses me?'

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Arthur was humming. Loudly. He felt as if he was walking on air. The feel of Guinevere's skin with his lips sent a sensation jolting through his body he never knew was possible. The only thing he knew, he mused, was that he wanted to experience that feeling as much as possible. If it one could achieve a high off of emotions, he reckoned that this would be it. 'Furthermore,' he noted, pleased and not at the same time, 'she didn't treat me any different from other people!'

He quickly reached his manor. Albion Heights was entirely comprised of the richest people in the country who wanted a "townhouse", as they referred to it. It was a splendid, grand old house, with a rich Pendragon history attached to it. Arthur could never sell it-despite the fact that he was not an ostentatious man-especially after his father's death a few years ago. Although the house seemed to pretentious for Arthur's needs and personality, deep down he was a sentimental man. And a house with so much family history should not be sold. 'Besides,' he thought bitterly as an afterthought, 'It was the bloody house which started the rift. If I sold it now it would all be pointless.'

After Uther Pendragon had died a few years ago, Arthur and his half-sister Morgana received intelligence of what their father's will had dictated. He willed the house, along with all of its possessions, to Arthur and had left Morgana practically penniless. Whether he forgot to edit his will to include Morgana after his second marriage, or he purposely left her out it would never be known. For what Uther had done was done, and Morgana was beyond consolation. At first, Arthur tried to help her out, and spilt the will 50-50 with her. But the lawyers were adamant that his father's will remain unchanged. After receiving the devastating news, Morgana's personality changed. She was no longer the caring, loving sister she once was. Instead, her heart hardened against her brother as greed and a large feeling of injustice swooped in. The will stipulated that she would receive Arthur's inheritance if he died. Thus, she continuously plotted against her brother. Eventually, Arthur could no longer stand the constant resentment, and decided to seek help. Through therapy and diagnostics-cleverly disguised from Morgana's knowledge-it was deemed that she had gone clinically insane. Her resentment and hardened heart had gone on to infect her mental faculties. Arthur was advised to seek professional help for his sister from the doctors. Thus, out of respect for the sister she once was before the corruption of the will, Arthur committed her to a reasonable living in the countryside with a caretaker. Their relationship was discreet-the caretaker would keep Morgana sedated with the various medications the doctors prescribed her after she was proclaimed 'clinically insane' and keep her mouth shut about Morgana's condition. In return, the caretaker would have a comfortable income, place to live, and a stable job in the world of today's unstable economy.

Although Arthur deeply regretted the deterioration of the relationship between himself and Morgana, the one good thing he got out of it was Merlin.

Merlin had met Morgana at an art auction a year before Uther's death. He was a skinny lad with pale skin, jet black hair, and crystal clear blue eyes which gleamed like sapphires. He was taller than both Arthur and Morgana, and had muscle just like Arthur. However, while Arthur's build was slightly shorter and stockier so his muscles were evident, Merlin's lanky frame hid most of his muscle. Furthermore, while Arthur's looks could instantly declare him a natural Casanova to the ladies, Merlin's good looks were more akin to a hidden, rare, and valuable gem. If he was looked at in a certain light, many declared Merlin to be better looking with Arthur (which Arthur highly resented, in a good natured way). With his high cheekbones and soulful eyes, it was easy to see why he still had "babe appeal" despite his skinny frame.

When Merlin and Morgana first met, there was an instant attraction-a kindred spirit of sorts. Merlin had lost his father like Morgana at a young age. They also both appreciated the "finer things" in life like art, history, and culture. Merlin was a critically acclaimed artist and writer. He had made his fortune off of his best-selling fantasy book series. Furthermore, his art was bid on for hundreds of thousands of dollars. "A modern-day Michelangelo" was what the Times had deemed him. Also, which Merlin had insisted was the most important part of any relationship; they both had an affinity for reading. When Merlin first bashfully asked out Morgana, they spent their first date discussing every book they could squeeze into an hour and a half of time before calling it a night. Their second date was spent holding hands, reading books side by side for a day. After their second date, Arthur decided to fulfill his role as a brother and interrogate Merlin, and his intentions. Once he "passed" Arthur's test, Arthur came to recognize him as a friend. Or rather, as much as a friend that Arthur would begrudgingly admit since Merlin was _still_Morgana's boyfriend. At first, when Uther had died, Merlin attempted to be the supporting best friend he had become to Arthur, and the supporting boyfriend he had been for Morgana. However, once the insanity began to settle in, Morgana changed and Merlin could sense it. She was no longer the caring individual he had fallen for. Instead, a cold-hearted person dwelt inside his lovely Morgana's frame, and it saddened Merlin. Arthur could see it in his expressive eyes that the usually cheery, optimistic man was slightly off. Soon after Morgana's change, it was mutually agreed upon by her and Merlin that they would part ways. However, that didn't mean Arthur and Merlin had separated. Indeed, Arthur could clearly recall the instant they knew they would be bonded by their sense of brotherhood for life.

_-Flashback-_

Arthur had come home to the house in complete disarray once again. The staff of the house was cowering in fear of the now deranged mistress of the manor. Arthur sighed as he dejectedly called for Merlin about the abode. Merlin could usually help make the whole situation more…_tolerable_to Arthur than anyone else, and could typically be found by Morgana's side, even though she was not herself anymore. He had this undying faith and loyalty in those he loved that Arthur could not begin to fathom-especially if it involved Morgana's deteriorating state. However, Merlin was not in the house. 'That was odd,' Arthur thought.

He quickly looked around for the nearest employee of the residence, and inquired where Merlin was. He was in need of some cheering up.

"Mr. Emrys was here, but he rapidly left about half an hour ago," Arthur's butler, James, replied.

"Thanks," Arthur hurriedly replied as he stepped out the doorway he just arrived in. He was in no mood to humor Morgana. He just wanted to take his mind off things by hanging out with Merlin. He called Merlin's cell, but there was no answer. That was wrong. Merlin-despite being scatter brained and, well _Mer_lin-ish-**never **ignored his phone. He once answered his phone in court while he was on the stand to help settle a suit over his artwork. Arthur thought back to any conversations they had had over the course of their time together. He couldn't think of anything remotely significant, and was beginning to despair when-suddenly-he remembered. He remembered when Merlin and Morgana had been talking about losing their fathers. He wasn't supposed to overhear this personal conversation, he guessed, but Merlin was still "new blood" to Arthur, and he wanted to spy on his true demeanor. Merlin was helping Morgana cope with her grief-something she had never been good at on her own. And while he was helping her, he admitted that there was one place-the lake inside Battersea Park-that he went when he wished to think. It was a place his father had taken him to when he was a boy. They had spent an enjoyable time there before he died, and talked about, as Merlin put it, "everything a boy should know".

Arthur quickly made his way there as "afternoon" was already beginning to be a false label on the time of day. Just like he imagined, he found Merlin sitting on a bench by the lake in the fading light.

"Merlin," Arthur said, awkwardly, as he approached the young man.

Merlin looked up. His eyes burning like the sky in stormy weather. Then he dropped his head back down again. His body was hunched over his clasped hands. He moved a miniscule amount-an almost indistinguishable gesture to Arthur to sit down. Arthur noticed, however, and took the proffered seat.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while-just the two of them-in the twilight. Then, Merlin spoke, "We broke up. She said that we were very different people now. I could hardly disagree. We both decided we want different things. And that it is best that we cut off contact from each other."

It was a simple, factual admission that Merlin made. Almost void of any emotion. But his eyes gave him away. The emotions behind them were swirling freely for Arthur to barely make out in the fading light. Suddenly Arthur realized that these pent up emotions were what was causing Merlin's eyes to look how they had been for the past few weeks since his father's death. They were a healthy shade of blue like always, and he had maintained his usual aura of cheerfulness and optimism. However, something about him seemed off which could only be seen in his eyes. His eyes hid the depth of his pain about his broken relationship well, but not completely. It was only now, however, that Arthur understood what was wrong.

"I spoke with my uncle, Gaius," Merlin continued steadily, "He has agreed to let me crash there until I get my own place."

Despite his wealth, Arthur and Morgana had insisted that Merlin move into the large Pendragon manor with them. They had agreed it was certainly large enough for three people, and their small staff. Also, as Arthur pointedly said, there was enough space between the rooms and the house was old enough to detect if anyone was _wandering __about _during the night. After an initial refusal, Merlin agreed-but only if he could pay rent like a normal person. Although Morgana thought it ridiculous, Arthur agreed almost instantly. He liked Merlin's need of independence, and that he didn't want to be considered a "freeloader" or sorts.

"Nonsense," Arthur said, "You can still live in the manor with me. Even if you an Morgana are-"

Here, Arthur paused, not wanting to inflict more pain on Merlin's already "fragile"state.

"…not as you once were," he continued, "that doesn't mean I want my best mate to just skip out on me!"

He had admitted it. That Merlin was the closest friend Arthur had gained. More importantly, he supposed, he had admitted it to Merlin-the only man whose opinion really mattered to Arthur. 'Not in a gay way,' Arthur quickly rectified in his mind, 'but in a _I __respect __you __and __you __respect __me_ sort of way.'

Merlin gave a small smile; the reward of Arthur's weak attempt to comfort Merlin. Although, if an outsider looked upon the scene, it didn't seem like much, it was. Arthur, although a "rough-tough-save the world" type of guy, wore his heart on his sleeve. He judged with his heart, not his mind, and his emotions-especially anger-were never far below the surface. It took a lot of self-control for the young Pendragon to keep his temper in check sometimes. 'Especially,' Arthur thought, 'If I ever wish to become Prime Minister.' He was the youngest member in parliament, but he was ambitious and wanted to be more than just part of the legislature. Merlin, on the other hand, was quiet, reserved, and a little awkward. Although when he spoke it was always with the right sentiments, Merlin never seemed to have quite mastered the trick of speaking without making the conversation or situation at least a little awkward. That is, for his friends. For people he needed to "impress" or with strangers they could barely tell. Merlin was a man known for his wit, sophistication, and eloquence. His heart, like Arthur, ultimately ruled his actions (a trait which significantly helped to bond the two men together in a brotherhood), but he was better at controlling his impulses than Arthur. Merlin came from a poor family, so he clung to any sort of education he could receive. Thus, Merlin valued his education more and paid attention far more than Arthur ever did in his studies. From his education, Merlin gained wisdom which included not acting without thinking. Merlin took these words to heart, and to those who didn't know the black haired boy well would have been surprised to learn that his heart ruled his ultimate decisions and not his head. Merlin's small smile was a sign which meant that he didn't blame Arthur for what happened, and that they would always be friends. The reserved man looked at the sometimes-rather-brash one, and they both just sat side-by-side. Sometimes Merlin punctuated the silence with an amusing story about something that he and Morgana used to do. Other times he would relate a "deep" quote about heartbreak that the classics had to say on the manner. And yet still both would be still. They sat this way for a few hours before they both stood and went back to their joint home.

_-End Flashback-_

As the door opened and Arthur stepped in an all-too-enthusiastic Merlin came bounding towards him. It had been about 4 years since everything had happened with Morgana, and Merlin hadn't changed much. He still enjoyed wearing scarves, reading, and art. His hair had perhaps been allowed to grow a little longer, and he currently was attempting to compete against Arthur for who could grow a beard first. Arthur had begun the contest with Merlin last week, and his face had a stubbornly clean-shaven look, whilst Merlin had a 5 o'clock shadow.

"Guess what!" Merlin proudly proclaimed. His hair was sticking up at odd angles, and there were smears of paint, glue, bits of paper, and other signs of his trade clinging to his face, jacket, and pants. His faded light blue jeans had more than a few splatters of paint on them, and his old V-neck blue shirt was looking the "worse for wear", but overall his Nike shoes were completely destroyed. Merlin insisted that these were his "lucky shoes" as every piece that was well-received was painted with these tennis shoes on his feet. Arthur, however, drily noted that _every_piece Merlin painted was a deemed a masterpiece-shoes or no shoes. Merlin countered his argument by stating that that was because he's never painted _without_his lucky shoes. Arthur always shook his head at Merlin's logic, and hideously old shoes. Arthur hated them simply because of how disgusting they had to be. They had been with Merlin ever since he had received them as a gift from his mother for making the national cross country team when he was eighteen. Merlin had gone on to be one of the fastest runners in Britain, and had been offered a spot with the Olympic team several times. However, each time he declined. He reasoned that if he began to run as a "job", then running would not be enjoyable for him anyone and he would lose his drive. And in losing his drive he would thus loose his time. But each time Merlin ran, he had to wear these same old shoes as well. So they continuously paid for themselves over and over again. Painting in the shoes had begun when he had found some art supplies from his mother's things in the living room. She had decided to attempt to take up painting, and Merlin was going to go out for a run. However, he stopped instead, and decided to paint quickly. When he was done and his mother saw the painting, she immediately recognized his talent and went to his school teachers. They agreed, and so off his career in art began after his career in running had just taken off.

"What?" Arthur said, trying not to look too happy. For if Merlin detected too much happiness he would nag Arthur until he finally caved and told Merlin what happened.

"I got a call back from-wait. What's got you all happy, eh?"

'Crap,' Arthur thought, 'I can't hide _anything _from him!'

"Ohhh nothing," Arthur still tried to shrug it off. But he knew better.

"Come off it mate!" Merlin jested, "What's her name?"

For such a small frame, Arthur realized that Merlin did a fantastic job of seeming to block the very _large _passageway from the entrance hall to the rest of the house. He sighed. He knew that Merlin would eventually win.

"Guinevere," Arthur mumbled. In a louder and more urgent voice, he then said, "Now if you don't mind _Mer_lin I would like to go to bed now. Lots to do with the campaign and all."

Then, shoving his way past, Arthur practically ran upstairs and slammed his bedroom door while Merlin chuckled to himself. 'So _Guinevere_,' Merlin laughed and thought as he went back to painting, "I wonder if you know that you have the most eligible bachelor in the country wrapped around your little finger."

Upstairs, Arthur didn't lay down-far from it. He took out his laptop and immediately searched for the name Guinevere Leodegrance. Immediately, pictures of the beautiful creature he had spoken with today showed up. At first, Arthur was overjoyed that she could be found so easily. Then, he grew suspicious as to why that would be. Finally, he looked more closely at the photos and realized that it wasn't always just Guinevere in the photo. Sometimes, he saw, there was an arm around her waist which held her and the body in a rather intimate position. Furthermore, he noticed that she seemed to enjoy it. He looked up the man's body slowly, dreading whose face it would show him. It was then that Arthur could've sworn he felt his stomach drop, and his heart break in two; for none other than _the _Lance du Lac himself who literally, and figuratively, held Guinevere in his arms.

...

Gwen gave Elyan a hasty greeting as she raced into her bedroom. When she was hollered after in an attempt to find out what had gotten her all "worked up", Gwen merely replied that she forgot some last minute editions to a project at work. In reality, she wanted to inspect the card the good-looking stranger had given her in peace in her bedroom.

With her door shut, Gwen took the card out of the pocket of her jacket. It read:

Arthur Pendragon LL.M.

CEO of Pendragon Industries, Parliament Member

Then, penned in underneath the first two lines hastily, as if by someone who didn't want to get caught graffiting the business cards, it read:

Royal Prat, Football Junkie, Terrible Singer-in-the-Shower

Gwen smiled briefly. She thought the second line gave her a much better, and more personal description of Arthur. She wondered if he would've given her this card if he knew what was written on it. Finally, the last line gave a phone number of his campaign office, and work email. On the back, in his penmanship (unlike the front side), was his personal cell phone number.

That's when it hit Gwen. Who the man actually was. It was none other than the _enemy _as Lance jokingly referred to him as. Quickly, to confirm her epiphany, she opened her laptop and looked up his name. Immediately images of the one and only man who now haunted her mind popped up. 'The pictures really don't do him justice,' was the first thought in Gwen's head as she browsed through the stock photos of the Prime Minister candidate. 'No! Gwen,' she told herself sternly, 'you can NOT be thinking about him like that! You have a wonderful boyfriend already named Lance du Lac! The OTHER Prime Minister candidate! You've already been photographed with him. The press would have an absolute_ field day _if they caught wind of you dating Arthur Pendragon! Wait-dating? I meant just hanging out! Ugh, even in my thoughts I can't be normal!' She closed her eyes with regret. Arthur was the kind of guy that you never expect to take the normal tube. His image from the media depicted him as this bad-boy womanizer who would never be caught dead talking to "commoners". Afterall, he _did _have part of the royal blood coursing through his veins. Yet he **did **take the tube. And he **did **offer to see Gwen safely to her house. He played the part of a perfect gentleman.

Gwen closed her laptop in disgust. Looking at pictures of Arthur wouldn't help her rapidly progressing imagination. For when Arthur kissed her cheek, she felt the interaction send her a message that seemed to scream that **that **was where she belonged all along-by his side through forever and always. Deciding upon trying to draw up a cold bath for herself, Gwen attempted to conjure images of Lance in her head, but somehow the brown curls kept transforming to golden straight locks, and the brown eyes became blue.

To be continued


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Lara Smith-I hope this chapter answers some of your questions! I planned for this one to focus more on Gwen and her story. Some of your questions have to remain a mystery for the time being, but I can say that Mergana will probably not make a reappearance. I follow cannon ships, but it was hard to ignore the Series 1 chemistry between the Merlin and Morgana. Thus, I put their relationship in this story as a nod towards that as well as a means for why Merlin and Arthur would meet.

Chapter 3

Gwen groaned as her alarm clock rang loud and shrill. She didn't want it to be morning. Despite what many people thought due to her early morning and chipper disposition, Guinevere Leodegrance was _not_ a morning person. She flopped her arm over the side of her bed to snooze the irritating sound and grabbed the pillow out from under her head. A feeble attempt at smothering herself with the pillow was in vain. She wanted to forget about the events of last night. From Arthur's perfect form which haunted her dreams to the ghostings of his lips on her cheek which still tingled. 'I have a boyfriend,' Gwen thought. She attempted to repeat this like a mantra in her head as suddenly her phone rang.

Gwen looked over at said phone, and noticed the caller id: _Lance_. 'Could this day _get_ anymore worse?' Gwen thought darkly.

Mustering up her courage, and her consciousness, she picked it up.

"Hello?" she said.

"Gwen!" Lance's bright reply came ringing back at her, "Did I wake you up? You sound tired. I'm sorry; usually you're up this early!"

Here, he laughed. Then he continued on, "I have time before the big debate today against the _enemy_"-another laugh-"Do you want to grab a bite? Afterwards you can come with me-as moral support, you know!-to the debate. If you would like, since I know today is your elusive day-off!"

Gwen smothered the sigh she so desperately wanted to release. Leave it to Lance to make everything worse through his morning-person disposition and unusually good mood.

"Yes, it was a late night so I've just woken up. No, you did not wake me, my alarm did. You sound unusually happy about the debate-are you confident about winning? No, I don't mind coming. I'd be happy to spend my day off with you," she replied.

'That _is _what I'd be happy to do, right?' Gwen thought, 'I would be happy to spend the day with _him _my _boyfriend _at the debate. Not because I want to see Arthur.'

"Excellent!" Lance replied, "See you in about…say…an hour?"

"Perfect," was all Gwen could muster before she hung up the phone.

The bed called to her. It was tempting to stay in it and just hide herself from the world. 'Yet,' Gwen dejectedly though, 'I can't.' So she emerged from her tangled mess of blankets and went out into the world.

"Hey Gwen!" was the first thing she heard as she walked into the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. "Did you have a rough night or something? You don't look too good sis," Elyan continued.

'Elyan-always the one for concern," Gwen thought.

"Nah, I'm fine. Just tired from work, and the recent move and such. Lance just rang-he asked me to go with him for a quite bite and to be moral support at his debate today against Arthur," she said.

"Oh yeah? Well don't be out too late!" Elyan waggled his eyebrows.

"Oh hush,' Gwen grumbled, blushing as she left the living room quickly.

It was another blustery cold day in November. Gwen chose to bundle up again since she was easily chilled, but that didn't stop her natural style and beauty from shinning through. She wore a classic little black dress with grey leggings, black boots, and a gray hat. Her signature lavender pea coat completed her ensemble, as she pinned her hair back from her face again. She gave Elyan a quick kiss on the cheek as she bid him farewell and slipped out of the door.

Lance was waiting for her downstairs in the lobby of her apartment complex. He looked as dashing as he always did. His muscular tanned skin was hidden underneath his classy black pea coat and grey slacks. His dark wavy locks were groomed to perfection, and his 5 o'clock shadow gave him a "devil may care" aura. His chocolate brown eyes brightened as he laid his eyes on Gwen's form.

"Gwen! You look lovely, as always," Lance greeted her. He pulled out a pink rose from the depths of his jacket, and he presented it to her.

Gwen blushed and murmured, "Thanks Lance."

And with that, they left Gwen's apartment building linked arm-in-arm. As they were walking, many people stopped to greet the couple. Lance's face-unlike Arthur's-was a _very_recognizable symbol. Whereas the media played up the image of an arrogant-player-who was too good to associate with common people for Arthur, they did the opposite of Lance. Lance was the symbol of the "common-albeit very good looking-man". He kissed babies on their foreheads, and gave people a voice. 'Although,' Gwen thought as she and Lance walked on, 'The media have never exactly been 100% accurate.' She was beginning to think that they portrayed Arthur wrong-very wrong. 'It was ironic,' she thought, 'that he was portrayed completely contradictory to his character, yet he still had the lead in the polls.' Indeed, Arthur was actually not at all like his image in person-and somehow the people had seen his true personality instead of the lies which were circulated around him. Lance, on the other hand, received a "good-two-shoes" image. While Lance wasn't particularly enjoying the limelight-he never did-he could hardly complain about his perceived image. 'Yet again,' Gwen continued, '_His _image wasn't very accurate either.' Lance was a good guy, but not _that_good. He had his faults-nothing major or dangerous, but faults none the less-which the media tended to turn a blind eye to. Overall, the public could clearly see which way the media swung when it came down to who they would rather have for their prime minister.

Gwen's musings were stopped as they did too for brunch at their favorite bistro. However, instead of searching for a table like normal, Lance called for their orders to go.

"Sorry," he explained, "But the debate is too soon to sit down for our meal. I was kinda hoping we could eat it on the way."

He flashed Gwen an apologetic look.

"No problem," Gwen smiled as warmly as she could. The butterflies which had gone away came back in full force in the pit of her stomach at the thought of going to the debate.

…

Arthur felt like an idiot. He was in his bedroom getting ready for the big debate against Lance which would be broadcasted all over the UK. As he tied his tie in an impeccable knot he signed deeply. 'How I have _not _noticed Guinevere when she's publicly been with Lance for six months?' Arthur thought, 'Maybe, it's like how people think of me. You don't know it's them because the picture doesn't capture the true person.' On top of this, he wasn't sure about how she would perceive his forwardness of giving her his number.

'Would she even call?' was the only thought which kept replaying in Arthur's mind before he chastised himself. Then, he would repeat the second part of the thought again, 'Why do you care? She has a boyfriend.'

Arthur sighed deeply as he left the room. He made his way to the kitchen where Merlin was already happily chatting away with the new Irish cook-Sally. Merlin, being from Ireland, greatly appreciated the cook's culinary talents since it reminded him of home.

"Hey there lazy daisy!" Merlin chirped.

"What are you talking about?" Arthur quipped back as he flopped down into his chair. Sally placed the morning's food and coffee in front of him. He gulped down some coffee and wolfed down his breakfast quickly as Merlin responded.

"Well this is the latest you've slept in a while," Merlin said, "Just surprising considering what's on the agenda for today! Normally you're bouncing with excitement-you can't wait to share your ideas with the public."

This was true. Arthur needed to think about an excuse that would cover why he rose so late. An excuse that didn't involve beautiful ebony curls or warm chocolate eyes. Just then his phone rang. 'Saved by the tone,' Arthur thought as he looked at the caller id. It was his secretary, Anne. 'Probably just wants to confirm the times and other last minute details,' he thought.

"Sorry Merlin, I've got to take this," Arthur said as he hastily stood up, "Are you going to come with me to the debate?"

"Of course. It's not like I _have_to go to work today," Merlin chuckled. His favorite part about his profession mainly being the independent work hours.

As Arthur left to take the call, Merlin helped Sally clear the table. When all was put back into sorts, the men left for the debate.

…

Gwen and Lance arrived at the park early, but the preparations for the event were well underway. The park was a rather picturesque location for the debate about everything from foreign policies to whether the candidates wore "boxers or briefs". The weather was overcast, chilly, and rather dry. Lance kissed Gwen on the cheek as he directed her to a place in the front row. Whether he meant to or not, Gwen instantly noticed that the chair he chose for her was dead center between his podium and Arthur's. 'How poetic,' she thought drily as Lance moved away to get ready.

As the paparazzi came pouring in, and the camera men got set up, Gwen sat quietly observed that Arthur had arrived. He and his friend-Merlin, she believed his name was (she tried to remember from the numerous articles about Arthur and his closest friend)-had snuck onto the scene. They made their way over to some trees on the edge of the open field, and were quietly practicing over Arthur's notes. Hardly anyone noticed their arrival, which Gwen thought was interesting. 'For someone who's supposedly an A-Lister, no one really notices him,' she thought, 'Although, he could just be good at hiding from the press.'

Soon the debate was underway. Yet, as Arthur and Lance took their positions Gwen couldn't help but compare the two of them in her mind. As she looked at Arthur, she mulled over their brief encounter yesterday. They hadn't interacted with each other for more than a few hours, yet Gwen had instantly felt a connection with him. She wondered how she couldn't have picked up on this before when she and Lance had gone to political events similar to the one she was at. Then she realized why-she had never actually seen or interacted with the man. She had attended the functions with Lance-not Arthur. It made sense that Lance wouldn't want to interact with the "enemy" unless he had to. She didn't know Arthur well, but there was no denying the pull she felt towards him as her butterflies escalated.

As Arthur finished speaking, Gwen found her attention shift to Lance as he formed his rebuttle. _Lance _she thought as he spoke. He was a good-no great-guy. She remembered back to when they had first met.

_-Flashback-_

Gwen had just been promoted to a junior partner at Jarban and James-the most renowned Human Rights and Activists Law Firm in the country. She was the "next up and coming" thing according to Aladdin Jarban, one of the senior partners of the firm. As she finished up moving her possessions into her new, larger office, she smiled. She had just received a call from Lance du Lac-a recent addition to parliament-inquiring about various policies that needed to be created dealing with countries overseas in the category of human rights. 'Well,' she thought, 'more accurately Mr. Jarban received the call and directed it her way.' It was her very first assignment as a junior partner. She was to meet with Mr. du Lac in a little less than two hours. Just enough time to finish arranging her office, and getting the correct files in order.

Gwen sat behind her desk impatiently. She still had a quarter of an hour until Mr. du Lac arrived and she had finished her tasks early. 'Twenty minutes ago-to be exact,' she thought, dully. She straightened her shirt, smoothed her skirt, and patted her hair for what felt like the umpteenth time in the past ten minutes. Since she had time to kill, Gwen had looked up a little more information about Lance du Lac on the internet. She had enough on Mr. du Lac to do adequate business with him, but she also wanted to know what he looked like, if he had any hobbies, and other personal tidbits. What she wasn't prepared for was seeing a picture of a startlingly handsome man stare back at her on the other side of the screen. His brown eyes immediately captured her attention, and she felt herself hoping to gain his approval in a decidedly "non-professional" way. As she sensed her feeling change, her desire to look good increased at an exponential rate. Thus began the smoothing of the skirts, the patting of the hair, and the constant straightening of her shirt.

Precisely on the hour Gwen received a knock at her door. She eagerly got up, and opened it. As she did so she was faced with the image of Lance du Lac-but in the flesh.

"Hi, I'm Lance du Lac," he extended his hand to her.

"Guienevere Leodegrance, but you can call me Gwen," she greeted him warmly, "Please do come in."

_-End Flashback-_

Gwen held a faint smile on her lips as she thought about their encounter. Over the course of her consulting days with Lance, they had begun to bond. She remembered when he first asked her out.

_-Flashback-_

They had just finished the long process of drafting up the policies on human rights. Both Lance and Gwen were exhausted and pleased with what their work had produced.

"I think that this turned out really great," Lance began after he threw down his pen on the contracts for the last time.

"I agree," Gwen said, and began putting her laptop away.

"You know what? This is cause for celebration!" Lance proclaimed with a smile. Then suddenly, in a more nervous attitude, he cast a sideways look at Gwen, "I was wondering if you would like to grab a drink sometime? You know-because we're done and all."

"He was sweet when he was nervous," Gwen thought. She had noticed Lance's demeanor begin to change around her recently. No longer did he continue to insist on calling her "Miss Leodegrance", but "Gwen". He also made it a habit to pick up her morning coffee before arriving to a meeting-and always managed to get the right order. Furthermore-and perhaps the most dramatic change-he seemed to consult her over every little detail. Whereas at the beginning of their collaboration Lance rarely consulted her (not to say that he was impolite-he was a perfectly courteous), he now felt the need to call her up daily.

"You know what, I would love to go for some drinks," Gwen started saying as she saw Lance's face brighten up, "But I can't today."

His face fell quickly as she hastily amended, "It's my brother's birthday today. So I promised him a sibling only outing. But I'm free next weekend."

Next weekend quickly dawned on Gwen as she waited for Lance to pick her up for their date. It was late May, and she decided to go with a casual purple summer dress with woven wedged heels. Her brother Elyan was standing by her side looking at his watch. He had insisted on meeting Lance to scope him out even though Gwen had pointedly said she could take care of herself. This led to a heated argument in which Elyan finally won by using his last and most powerful round of ammunition-that since their dad had died that January he felt it was his duty to protect her. Gwen stopped arguing instantly and mutely nodded her head. Elyan felt rather bad about the way he went about meeting Lance, but he couldn't take any chances when it came to protecting Gwen. He kept glancing at his watch waiting for it to read 13:00. If Lance was just one second late, Elyan would know.

As soon as his watch changed from 12:59 to 13:00 Elyan looked up to see the dark haired man standing in front of him.

"Hi, I'm Lance," the stranger stuck out his hand, "You must be Gwen's brother Elyan."

Elyan narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he began his interrogation, "I'm Elyan. You wouldn't mind answering a few questions before your outing, would you?"

"Of course not," Lance smiled. Gwen had warned him about this.

"Have you ever done any time in jail?"

"No."

"Done drugs, smoked, or have participated in any illegal acts?"

"No-although I tried smoking in high school. It didn't bode well with my respiratory system and I stopped after my first cigarette."

"Ever cheated on a girlfriend?"

"No. Although I have been cheated on in the past."

"Come from a rich or poor family?"

"Poor. My father has been absent for most of my life. My mom did the best she could to support our small family, but she died when I turned eighteen. She didn't have a single penny left to pass onto me. I've made my way up in the world due to incredibly kind and giving people that can be found in this country."

Eylan raised his eyebrows. So far Lance's story seemed to check out. In particular his background seemed impressive-perhaps it sounded too rehearsed, but impressive nonetheless.

After a few more drilling minutes, Elyan voiced his utmost important question.

"Arsenal or Manchester United?"

"Arsenal," Lance firmly replied.

Here, Elyan broke out into a smile. He clapped his hand on Lance's back as he proudly proclaimed, "Welcome to the family mate!"

He then turned around to Gwen, "Just because I approve doesn't mean that I don't have eyes or ears everywhere."

He wagged his finger back and forth, while giving Gwen a meaningful look before bounding back into their small house.

Gwen was a healthy shade of red when Lance next looked at her. He laughed, saying, "I understand."

Then, taking on a slightly more serious note, he continued, "Your brother only wants what's best for you-and why shouldn't he? You deserve the best Gwen."

He cautiously reached to grab her hand, and Gwen accepted. She was pleased at how comfortable Lance could make her, and loved that he already wanted to hold her hand.

Their lunch at the quirky establishment in the heart of London was perfect for their first date. It had the most random assortment of food from all over the world in the one little place. Furthermore, Lance seemed to be on "first name basis" terms with the owner of the restaurant, and he got a great deal on their lunch. The best part of the place, however, was that no one seemed to prod Lance for details about his political doings like most people. Instead, they left him in peace, and they both were able to have fun on their first date together.

_-End Flashback-_

Lance's bit had ended, and now it was Arthur's turn once more. Gwen took a deep breath. Lance was an amazing guy. He was a courteous man who cared about others, and he also had deep respect for his loved ones. He was honest and loyal. He had helped her cope with her father's then-recent death, and had been her emotional rock. He was funny, and could hold down a few-or more-drinks. He even got Elyan's seal of approval, and the two of them frequently bonded over the football matches. In short, he was the guy every girl hoped to bring home. Her family-Elyan-loved him, he respected her and her desire to "save herself", and he was a great kisser. Ultimately, Lance was a good man. Gwen honestly had felt like she could spend the rest of her life with him. They both had a deep mutual respect of each other, and that's what true love really was. Or so she had thought. Since meeting Arthur her whole world had turned upside down. And it hadn't even been 48 hours since meeting him.

The debate ended quickly-or at least what seemed like a short amount of time to Gwen. Her internal debate over Arthur and Lance easily made her lose track of time, and the next three hours breezed by.

"Gwen?" Lance asked, "Are you ok?"

She suddenly realized that most of the paparazzi had gone, and now only the workers hired to take everything down, Lance, Arthur, Merlin, a blonde woman with green eyes and ivory skin, and herself were left. And she was sitting by herself in the middle of rows of empty seats. Everything else had been already taken down. The workers were just beginning on folding up the chairs. Merlin was standing by where the podiums used to be. He was concentrating on texting whoever was on the other end with a look of pure concentration on his face.

Then she noticed Arthur. He was lingering back by the trees where he and Merlin had been going over his notes. He was too far away to make out the details of his face, but Gwen could see that his face was turned towards her general vicinity. His hands were in his jacket pockets, and she wondered why he was so far away from Merlin without any sort of explanation. It was then that Gwen could also make out the pretty blonde's form making her way over to Arthur. Arthur seemed to not notice the blonde until she was less than a foot away from him. Then, he turned. Immediately he was greeted with a sound kiss by the blonde. She wrapped her arms around him, forming a rather intimate embrace as Arthur's body tensed before relaxing into the arms of the woman.

'So,' Gwen thought, 'It hasn't even been a day yet he's already picked up another woman. I wonder if our meeting even meant anything to him. I guess he was lying about not being a womanizer. I can't believe that I wasted all this time and energy on him. At least the blonde opened my eyes to what an idiot I've been. I have Lance. He's a fantastic boyfriend. And he's good enough, isn't he?'

Yet even as her rational mind insisted this as the right reaction, and was congratulating her on her sound logic, her heart told her a very different story. Or at least, what one could conclude was an action completely opposed to her self-congratulations for her heart felt as if it was breaking into a million pieces.

"Yes, I'm fine," was Gwen's reply.

To be continued


	4. Chapter 4

Note: Thanks CookieDoughPony for all of the encouragement to keep going! I confess that I have commitment issues, and I have a hard time finishing work that I've begun. But that virtual tub of Baked Alaska's really helping me through my issues ;)

Chapter 4

When Arthur went to the debate with Merlin he hardly expected Guinevere to be there. In fact, he was almost counting on her _not_being there. He figured that she wanted to avoid him for his presumptuous ways. Giving her his phone number basically told her that he figured he thought she was interested in him-perhaps she believed him to be arrogant. When he saw her walking in hand-in-hand with Lance he felt a little bit of him die. The part that had recently awakened in him that he didn't know he had. The part which was stimulated by Guinevere's mere presence by him. He discreetly checked her out from a distance-he couldn't help it. He grabbed Merlin by the arm and led him away from the larger crowd under the pretense of going over his notes. His mind could not have been farther from his speech if he tried. As Merlin kept trying to engage him with facts about the UK's economy, and how to properly avoid answering questions directly Arthur watched Gwen. He noticed as Lance led her to the seat dead center in the front row. His eyes narrowed as he saw Lance kiss Guinevere on the cheek-the exact location he had planted his lips previously. Immediately he felt a great green monster rise up in the pit of his stomach. 'That place was reserved for him and him alone,' he thought. He had already "marked his territory" so to speak. Lance had no right to infect that sacred territory with his treacherous lips. Arthur sighed deeply at the sight of Guinevere. Her legs folded just so underneath her clasped hands which fell in her lap. A stubborn curl dangling upon her cheek-it had escaped the restrictive pins and hair ties. Her little black dress suited her perfectly. It was at once simple, yet elegant. 'Just like her,' Arthur thought. Or at least-how she thought she was from the brief impression he gained from their encounter.

Throughout the debate he could feel it when Gwen's eyes were upon him. The back of his neck got a prickly sensation, and he felt his blood pressure spike. He felt on fire every time her glance happened to fall upon his form. He wondered if she noticed that he had drained almost his entire water bottle within the first few minutes in a futile attempt to cool down. He was badly in need of another one, and Merlin had to discreetly provide him with water throughout most of the debate. Over the course of the three hours he had downed an entire case. He was surprised that his mind could even function halfway decently with the pressure he was feeling enclose down on him. He dully wondered if Lance was "beating him" so to speak as another round of stares from Gwen rendered him once again incapable of coherent thoughts. Suffice it to say, Arthur was relieved when it was over and he could escape to the relative safety of the trees in the distance.

He went back over to where he and Merlin practiced his lines while Merlin made a few calls. He claimed that he needed time to himself to mull over what had happened during the debate. Merlin merely raised his eyebrows. He knew Arthur too well, and Arthur knew it. Merlin could tell where Arthur's attention had been the entire debate. But for once he decided not to tease the poor man senseless. 'Let him suffer in slience,' Merlin thought as he busied himself with texting the new cook. They were currently comparing Irish recipes which they both enjoyed and both wished to try in the future.

As Arthur stood in the distance he stared at Gwen again-but this time unabashedly. He took in every minute detail that his perfect vision would give him as he attempted to cool off. He wanted to approach Gwen again, and talk with her. Maybe they could become better acquainted and close friends if he couldn't have her in the way he truly desired. He was so focused in finding the courage to talk with Gwen again, and cooling off, that he failed to notice another figure making their way towards him. It was remarkable, really, that Arthur didn't see her until she stood less than a foot away from him. For his prowess in observation failed him when Gwen was concerned. As they failed, his one-track mind took over. 'Gunievere. Guinevere. GUINEVERE.'-this was the only thing on his mind as the blonde approached him. Or, more accurately, launched herself at him.

As her lips crashed upon Arthur's body immediately tensed up. 'Who was this woman?' Arthur thought. As he looked down and saw the blonde curls and ivory skin he realized who it was-_Vivian._

Here, Arthur realized he was at a crossroads. One path would be to reject her and her affections. He could fight for Gunievere's attentions. He could steal her away from his opponent who was now not only one to Arthur on a professional level, but also a personal one Of course, this was the harder path. 'And,' he thought, 'on top of that I'm not even sure that she _wants_my regard.' The other path told him to forget about Gunievere. He could have this potentially meaningless relationship with Vivian instead. It would be easier, quicker, and less heartbreaking, but most likely it would ultimately lead to failure and disintegrate. 'Although,' Arthur realized, 'It also meant that he would leave Gwen alone. She could be at peace with Lance,' as he already assumed she was. 'She could remain tied to a man who would treat her right. Lance would deserve her. He was the simpler choice, and most likely more worthy of her love. She wouldn't have to be stuck with a man who had a deranged sister and more "baggage" than he cared to admit to owning.' As he weighed his options, Arthur remembered the expression "if you love something, then set it free." 'Well,' he thought grimly, 'I guess I'll have to set her free.' And with that, he returned Vivian's affections-if only halfheartedly. For as he closed his eyes the only image imprinted on their lids was that of a dark haired woman with chocolate skin.

…

Gwen left with Lance. She didn't want to see Arthur returning the kiss of the blonde. In fact, she felt her stomach tied up in knots so tight that she wanted to physically puke. As Lance escorted her away from the scene of the debate she ran into the dark haired man who accompanied Arthur.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Haha no worries," a deep Irish brogue greeted her back, "I'm Merlin Emrys. And you are?"

"Guinevere Leodegrance. But you can call me Gwen," she stuck out her hand and smiled warmly at Merlin. 'So she was right! His name _was_Merlin!' she thought, pleased that all of her internet research had paid off.

'So this was the infamous Gwen,' Merlin thought, 'Wow Arthur really knew how to pick them!' Despite the fact that Merlin didn't feel the attraction to Gwen like Arthur clearly had, he couldn't deny that she was beautiful. Merlin hadn't been able to tease Arthur all day, and he was starting to feel anxious. His "Pick on Arthur" quotient hadn't filled up for the day yet. 'But that's quickly about to change,' Merlin smirked as his eyes glinted mischievously.

"Gwen! Great to meet you. What brings you to this particular region of political boredom?"

Gwen laughed. She instantly got a warm vibe from the lanky man with startlingly blue eyes.

"Oh well Lance here invited me to this shin-dig. Although I must disagree with you. I think that politics are quite fascinating-and important," she replied

It was Merlin's turn to laugh now.

"You sound just like Arthur!" he said, "That's why I'm here. He's my best mate. No offence intended towards your dashing escort here."

He nodded in Lance's direction, while Lance merely returned the nod and smiled.

Gwen chortled again.

"Why Merlin you're the downright gentleman aren't you? Tell me then, if you have no interest in politics what do you do for a living?" she asked.

"Why you don't know me?" Merlin exclaimed in mock outrage. In truth, very few people did. Although his art was better known amongst the art fanatics, his true identity from writing was not.

"I am none other than the GREAT MERLIN! Otherwise known as Colin Myrddin in some circles," here he raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Gwen blushed at his insinuation, but immediately became embarrassed for other reasons.

"You mean to tell me that _you_are the writer of my favorite book series-The Voice?" Gwen exclaimed. She wanted to faint from excitement.

Merlin turned a healthy shade of scarlet, but still managed to maintain his wits enough to continue the charade of confidence and charm, "Not only that! But I also make a pretty mean homemade soup. Anyways Gwen, you seem like a lovely lass. Would your friend terribly mind it if I swept you away for a drink? You and I seem to have a lot in common and I would love to get to know you better," Merlin said with a mock-elaborate bow.

Although he _did_want to tease Arthur, what he said wasn't a lie. She actually seemed like a decent girl. 'It's just an added bonus that she'll drive Arthur crazy," Merlin happily surmised in his head.

Lance now stood awkwardly at Gwen's side, eying the town car sent by his campaign office to pick up him and Gwen. However, Gwen had different ideas racing through her head. Instead of following Lance, she wanted to get better acquainted with this Merlin character-he could prove useful to getting to know more about Arthur. 'Not that I want to for dating purposes,' she quickly thought in her head, 'but more for research purposes-to help my bruised ego.' Although Gwen didn't want to admit it, her heart still felt broken and her mind wouldn't stop mulling over the niggling thought which persisted in the back of her mind. 'If Arthur didn't care, why did he give me his number?' she pondered.

Gwen turned aside quickly from Merlin, muttering, "Don't wait up Lance. I'll call you later tonight, ok?"

To be honest, aside from all of the "drama", she couldn't wait to get to know Merlin-and Arthur-better.

Lance merely nodded and kissed her on the cheek as he departed with a final, "Sounds great to me."

At the gesture Merlin's eyes widened with recognition. 'No wonder Arthur's more hush-hush about this one than the others,' he thought. Before, when Lance and Gwen were departing they merely walked side-by-side with no hint of intimacy between them. Furthermore, Merlin had failed to notice the previous signs of affection from either of them. Now that he understood the situation, he inwardly groaned. 'Arthur's going to go absolutely bonkers,' Merlin thought. He knew how stubborn Arthur could be, and how crazy _not_being able to have a shot with Gwen from the beginning would kill him. Little did he know about the actions Arthur was making directly behind him, and how Arthur was digging a deeper hole for himself.

As Lance left and Gwen directed a smile towards Merlin, the latter held out his arm for her to take.

"Shall we?" he asked with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

…

Vivian's target had been Arthur Pendragon for a long time. When she was a freshman in college she had heard about the infamous Pendragon. Being a public figure already, he had been recently inducted to parliament-setting a record for the youngest man to ever receive that position. Also, Arthur's reputation with girls preceded him as did his family fortune. Furthermore, Vivian had heard about his ambitions to become Prime Minister one day. And you would have to be blind to not see that the stars were all aligned in such a manner as to assume that he would very likely be the recipient of the post in the future. On top of his wealth and assumed power, he wasn't exactly hard on the eyes. Far from it. He was _extremely_easy on the eyes. Vivian had started working out merely to spy on Arthur. She had found out what gym he regularly attended from a "friend of a friend", and frequently found herself staring at him rather than actually using her gym membership for what it was designed to do. She had formed a small crush on him then, and nurtured it throughout her career. After all, Arthur was handsome, wealthy, and powerful. Who wouldn't want to have that in a partner?

She had graduated with all the right credentials to become the perfect manager in some profession or other. Originally, she had aimed to start her own business and become an events planner. However, soon after her graduation the time of Arthur's bid for Prime Minister had begun. Instantly she applied for a job interning at his campaign office. She hoped to be able to win his affections there, and slowly saw a change in him. At the beginning of her time at the office he merely ignored her like all the other interns. However, as time went on Vivian's attire became _bolder,_mirroring her determination to be found in "one-on-one" situations with the man. 'It was all a game anyways,' Vivian thought. Slowly but surely her persistence was paying off. She frequently caught Arthur looking at her during work hours, and attempting to catch her eye here and there. She had thought that he was going to ask her out soon, but her patience was wearing thin. It had been nearly a year since her plan was set into motion, and her impatient side was beginning to win out.

Vivian had thought that she could be strong, but the debate proved her wrong. She had watched Arthur like a hawk throughout the entire event. His sweaty palms and glistening forehead didn't escape her notice. Nor did the fact that his attention was stubbornly fixed on the front row-more specifically, in her vicinity in the front row. She had sat near the center of the line of chairs, but still marginally closer to Arthur's side opposed to Mr. du Lac's. She never noticed that only a few chairs away to her right sat the pretty girl with dark curly hair that Mr. du Lac had arrived with.

Vivian decided to take Arthur's reactions as a sign. 'He had clearly been eying me for weeks,' Vivian thought, 'Maybe he simply needs some encouragement.' The debate progressed along at a painfully slow rate for Vivian. Whenever her mind was made up, it was done so quickly, and the plan took less than five minutes to fully formulate.

After the debate, Arthur hung back and retreated to the trees. Vivian mirrored his actions. She too hung back after the crowd, but waited a few minutes before going towards the trees. Arthur didn't even notice her. 'Probably because of my stealth-like walk,' Vivian thought a little proudly. As she brought Arthur's lips to hers she was surprised to feel his tense reaction. That wasn't a what was supposed to happen. 'Perhaps she had misinterpreted his signals?' she briefly thought. Then she felt his body respond to hers, and all traces of self-doubt fled from her mind.

…

Arthur was entwined in Vivian's embrace until he felt his phone vibrate. He stopped their impromptu make-out session with a quick "sorry I have to take this". He stepped out of her embrace, and a little ways away from her body. He saw her face fall, but he didn't really care. His own feelings were felt in too sharp of a relief to mind another's. He glanced at the caller id: Merlin.

"What?" was Arthur's response to the answered phone call. He was half-annoyed that Merlin had called him. 'Wasn't Merlin supposed to still be waiting for him somewhere in this stupid clearing?' Arthur thought. But he was also half-relieved. It was an excuse to stop kissing. The emotion of self-loathing was quickly rising in his chest as he administered his false feelings of affections towards Vivian. Despite Vivian's "straight-to-the-point", "head-on" approach, Arthur really wasn't the type of guy to hurt a girl's feelings. Even a girl as forward as Vivian. Furthermore, he hated himself for being completely and utterly devoted to a girl he barely knew. And he knew it was wrong to be pining after her, and letting his feelings out on another. Merlin's phone call brought both of these feelings to a head as Arthur heard Merlin's voice in his ear.

"I've left to snag a bite with a friend I met at the debate," Merlin explained, "At that nice restaurant we usually eat at with clients for lunch. When you're done "taking a beat" or whatever you're doing, you should join us."

"Of course, sounds great. See you there," Arthur hung up. He had tried to make his voice take on a more "official" sounding tone. If he pulled it off convincingly, it would be easier to excuse himself from Vivian's presence.

"I'm sorry, but I really must go," Arthur told Vivian. The expression on her face was akin to a puppy dog's after being denied a long promised treat.

"It's fine," Vivian said-but it wasn't.

Arthur could sense the hurt radiating from her. He didn't want to be a complete jerk.

"I wouldn't go unless it was important, I hope you understand. If you don't mind giving me your number, I'll call you later to find a way I can make up for this." he said.

'Stupid!' he thought, 'now you've only got her hopes up once again.' Indeed, as he thought this Vivian's expression immediately brightened and she eagerly dictated her number to him so he could input it onto his phone.

As Arthur departed from the scene awkwardly, he wondered who Merlin's new "friend" was as he kept trying to think up ways to let Vivian down gently. For although he had thought "setting Gwen free" was the right thing to do, he realized he was wrong. The right thing to do was fight for her. Even if the first step in the battle was to simply be her friend.

To be continued

Another note: To any of those interested in the answers to some of Lara Smith's questions:

As to the reason I made Gwen a lawyer was because I kept thinking about how she always sticks up for what's right. I think that it's one of the best qualities she has on the show, and she cares deeply about the people of Camelot. Thus, I figured a human rights lawyer would be a great position for her. If her personality and some of the events in the series are anything to go by, then she would make one heck of a case for the "common man" in modern times! Furthermore, the neighborhood she lives in with her brother is by one of the richest fictional neighborhoods in the country. She and Elyan need some reasonable means of paying for that! I figured a promotion would be a good reason why she would move there. She doesn't choose her own clientele per say. She can choose who she wants to take on, but sometimes the "big men on campus" also assign her jobs. Again, modeling this Gwen after the series' Guinevere, I would say that this Gwen would definitely be able to hold her own in a grave situation. It's just that she isn't quite there yet. This story's Gwen is based heavily off of series 2 Gwen (where I think her character development was given the most thought so far, in my opinion). She definitely didn't depend on any man to help her "climb the ladder" so to speak! She's a hard worker, and she made it through on lots of elbow grease and a little luck. The name of the firm and senior partners are allusions to real life people. The "James" portion referring to Bradley James (or as we like to know him as, King Arthur). The "Jarban" portion and character refer to someone I actually know. He's a human rights activist in the Middle East, and this was my way to give him a "shout out" for his hard work.

As to what role Gwen will play in Arthur's life, how she will be a part of it, and some other questions you'll just have to wait and see ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Note: This chapter was almost never published because my brother tried to kill me tonight. As we watched 4x09 I thrashed about in agony, moaned, and yelled at the TV so much that he started plotting against me. I thought I had known the meaning of the following words: frustration, angst, aggravation, anger, sadness, and heartbreak. But I was wrong. I never knew the true meaning until tonight.

Chapter 5

Merlin took Gwen to one of the nicest restaurants in town. When he and Arthur wanted to impress particularly "hard-to-please" investors, clients, diplomats, or other "VIP"s they went here-to Elena's Elegant Eateries. There certainly was a reason for this. The restaurant could've been-and had been-the poster child of the finest gourmet establishment in all of the UK. And there was a very long line trailing around the corner to get in.

Merlin strode confidently past the seemingly never-ending queue. He went straight up to the host of the restaurant. As Merlin took in the form of the man, his eyebrows rose in surprise-this was not the usual person for the job.

"Table for three, please," Merlin said as he stepped up to the podium

People glared at Merlin with beady eyes as they watched him talk with the host. He wasn't even dressed properly! There was a sort of "unwritten" dress code for eating at the establishment-semi-formal attire (or better) only. Merlin, however, was still sporting his paint splattered jeans and blue V-neck shirt. The only differences were the added brown blazer he had thrown on walking out the door along with a red scarf. Also, he had swaped out his lucky Nikes for some brown shoes which matched his blazer. Gwen was slightly better off than Merlin. Her little black dress could've been counted as semi-formal. However, the grey leggings, hat, and black boot set a more "casual" tone for her attire-albeit a stylish one.

The host merely gave them a condescending look over his rather large, pointy nose. He opened his mouth as if to negate their presumptions that they could skip the long line wearing _that_attire. Gwen could feel her cheeks beginning to burn underneath the stare. Despite knowing that Merlin was a respected artist and writer, she wasn't exactly sure how much "street cred" he held outside of the artistic community. Furthermore, almost no one knew who Colin Myrddin really was-or what he looked like. It was one of the most enticing reasons to buy The Voice series. However, everyone knew that the writer used a pen name-so the host might think that Merlin was lying if he actually revealed his "true identity". She may have been a lawyer, but she wasn't sure that even she-as an "up and coming"-could talk their way into the restaurant or out of their embarrassing situation.

But Gwen needn't have feared for Merlin merely smiled as he finished his request with, "For Emrys."

At the sound of the famous painter's (not to mention regular customer's and friend of the owner's) name the host's mouth snapped shut and his eyes widened. Clearly, the name "Emrys" was more powerful than Gwen had thought.

"Of course sir," was the host's reply as he led them away to a top-notch table setting with a view.

Merlin could feel Gwen's eyes boring into the back of his skull as the host led them to their table. He could sense her unasked questions-How did you do that? Do you have connections with this place? Who's the third person? However, he didn't want to spoil his plans. Merlin needed to gauge how much Arthur liked this girl. If he could see both of them together, Merlin hoped the entire situation would become clearer. On top of this, there was still the promise of embarrassing Arthur if his affections were as deep as Merlin suspected.

When they reached the table, Merlin courteously helped Gwen out of her jacket, and pulled the seat out for her. As she accepted, Merlin saw that she was settled before excusing himself. He claimed that he needed to use the bathroom, but instead Merlin dialed a familiar number from a safe distance away from Gwen.

"Hey," Merlin said into the device.

"What?" Arthur snapped.

Merlin could tell he was particularly on edge.

"I've left to snag a bite with a friend I met at the debate at that nice restaurant we usually eat at with clients for lunch. When you're done "taking a beat" or whatever you're doing, you should join us."

"Of course, sounds great. See you there." Arthur's voice had taken on what Merlin liked to call his "business tone".

Merlin wondered who Arthur was near to put on such airs. Before Merlin could respond, Arthur had hung up on him. Merlin simply shrugged. 'I'll find out later,' he thought, 'after all, I room with the guy!' Merlin pocketed his phone and went back to the table. He took a rather circumvent pathway to get there so he could appear as if he emerged from the stalls.

"Sorry I took so long," Merlin said to Gwen as he sat down. Gwen merely smiled as Merlin continued, "So did I miss anything exciting?'

"Yes. A rather beautiful young woman came over here asking about your whereabouts, and if you were available." Gwen teased. She giggled as she said it-she could tell she already liked Merlin.

"Did she now? I knew the ladies couldn't resist me, but now they try to approach me even when I just want to have a peaceful lunch! I never knew women could sink to such depths as to attempt to interrupt my meal time!" Merlin jokingly proclaimed.

Gwen laughed as she picked up her menu. Her eyes became saucer dishes as she saw the prices. Everything here was so expensive! She wondered how she would be able to afford even a simple glass of wine or appetizer. Just then she felt a warm, comforting weight on her arm. She looked up to see Merlin's face peering at her over her tall menu. His eyes radiated his dominant emotions-concern and reassurance.

"Don't worry Gwen. These aren't the real prices-for us anyways! I know the owner of this place and she gives us a great discount," Merlin smiled, "Besides, I am nothing if not a gentleman! I would never expect you to pay for an outing which I invited you to."

Gwen blushed, "Really Merlin, that's very kind of you-but unnecessary. How did you manage to come by this arrangement anyways? I mean, being able to go to the front of the line, receiving a premium seating area, _and_a rather large discount? What on earth does the owner get in return for all of this?"

"A fantastic friend-and wingman-if she ever wants one," Merlin winked, "Honestly, Arthur and I come here with various people to discuss business. Well, that's what Arthur does. I mainly tag along if I'm bored or Arthur wants some moral support. The people we bring in are…erm…"well-connected" or "influential" if you get my meaning. So we basically give Elena-the owner-really great advertising and new "regulars". See that guy over there?"

Here, Merlin interrupted his explanation by gesturing to an elderly man with horned rim glasses. He was concentrating a great deal on the conversation between himself and a younger man.

"He's one of the chief advisors to the head of the Russian government," Merlin continued, "And now one of Elena's regulars. He always orders the soup with vodka."

Gwen was impressed. Merlin continued pointing out important people in the world that were at the restaurant. According to him, he and Arthur were the cause for why they had gotten hooked on Elena's food. Gwen was so engrossed in Merlin's stories, (and the grandiose hand gestures that went with them), that she never noticed another approaching their table.

As Merlin was in the middle of regaling a tale Gwen wasn't sure was completely accurate, she jumped as she heard a cough behind her.

"Ahem."

As Gwen turned around she felt her heart stop. She was looking up into the eyes of none other than the handsome stranger. The one she had felt an instant connection with-Arthur Pendragon.

…

Arthur made his way quickly to the restaurant. He didn't want to think about how he would repair the damage done with Vivian. On top of that, he wasn't sure if any press caught wind of their impromptu make-out session after the debate. 'That would surely make the tabloids explode with joy,' he thought drily. Arthur knew the papers were usually out to "get him" so to speak. His perceived arrogance coupled with his alleged womanizing ways and "bad boy" behavior made the tabloids go into a frenzy. Although he knew that people didn't believe the rubbish they spread about him and his campaign, he could hardly blame them for where they first formed this image. Arthur's life had been under the public's scrutiny from a young age. His father was a successful business man, and his grandfather had been the prime minister. These facts on top of the outbreak of media attention when he became the youngest member ever to go into parliament made his life nearly an open book. When he was younger, he could admit to himself to being arrogant. He was young and foolish. His arrogance drove him to perhaps be a bit of a "bad boy" and "womanizer". However, unlike most people Arthur's past youthful self-centered attitude could not be moved past easily. The press had formed their picture of Arthur, and it was hard to shake it off. Especially an image that could be a potential money spinner.

When Arthur made his way to the front of the line, the host immediately recognized him. Unlike Merlin, Arthur's face had been plastered over much of the city. The host was apparently one of the people who could recognize Arthur from the pictures-not to mention that the classy restaurant was a place people expected Arthur to go to.

"I'm here looking for Merlin Emrys," Arthur said.

"Yes, right away sir," the man said, and led him to the table.

As Arthur approached the table he saw Merlin's mouth moving. His friend was making wild motions with his hands and arms, laughing with the unknown _friend._

He couldn't make out their form. Either the chair was too large or their body was too small. He heard a snippet of laughter from the other person as he approached. It sounded like the most beautiful music ever created to his ears.

"…and then Arthur decided that he needed to 'play the hero' and he went to rescue-"

"Ahem," Arthur coughed, interrupting Merlin's most-likely-false story.

That's when he noticed the person sitting across from Merlin shift in their chair. As they turned around brown eyes met blue and Arthur felt his breath hitch. Merlin's "friend" was none other than Guinevere Leodegrance. '_My_Guinevere,' he thought.

"Hello again," Arthur attempted to smile as warmly as he could at Gwen as he made his way around to his seat.

The table was arranged to have one chair at each side of the table. Arthur took the seat which positioned himself in between Gwen and Merlin, since the two decided to sit across from each other. As Arthur settled himself in, he turned his attention back to Gwen.

"Hello," Gwen muttered.

Her response to Arthur's greeting was barely audible as he settled in. She avoided his eye contact, and mentally sent pleads of help mingled with annoyance to Merlin. 'So _this_is the man we were waiting for all this time!' she thought. The man who somehow broke her heart without her knowledge of him ever pertaining the key to it.

"I'm sorry I am late," Arthur directed his statement to Merlin now. He sensed Guinevere's obvious discomfort to being by him. He felt stupid for thinking that she would overlook his presumptuous ways during their first meeting. On top of that, now that he knew she had a boyfriend (and not just any boyfriend, but _the_Lance du Lac) he figured that her feelings of awkwardness would exponentially rise. After all, how do you let down someone you just met, and are now having lunch with, gently?

"No worries," Merlin responded.

Just then, his phone rang. Merlin looked at the caller id: Gwaine.

"I'm so sorry for abandoning you once again Gwen, but I really do have to take this. I'm afraid that my performance thus far this afternoon has not helped my reputation of being a gentleman," Merlin said. With that, he got up from his chair and walked a few feet away from the other tables, wishing for some privacy.

Now with only Arthur and Gwen at the table, the waiter decided to appear.

"Hello Mr. Pendragon, miss, what can I get you today?" they asked.

After Arthur conveyed his order (steak and potatoes), and Gwen relayed hers (seafood linguini alfredo) the waiter took their menus from them. As she did, she couldn't help but add, "You two make a very cute couple" before walking off.

Arthur and Gwen both turned scarlet. They didn't know that awkward feelings could increase so rapidly.

"Soo.." Gwen started.

"Indeed…" Arthur trailed off.

Silence again as they looked everywhere but each other.

"You did well at the debate today," Gwen said. 'Start with something good. At least a compliment," she thought.

"Thank you. I saw you there as well. You looked very lovely. You were sitting in the front row," Arthur said. 'Idiot,' he thought, 'now she'll think that you stalk her as well as being a desperate lovesick fool!'

Gwen colored again. She felt like she was doing that a lot, recently.

"Thank you," she said, "I think that your suit looks wonderful. I mean, not just the suit. Obviously. I mean you in the suit look great. Not to say that I know what you look like without your suit-I don't. Although I'm sure you'd still look good. Not that I think you're good looking. I mean, you're not ugly. Clearly you're not. But you're not-I mean-" Gwen's cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red. She hadn't meant to babble all of that away. Furthermore, she basically admitted to finding Arthur attractive at the same time as calling him ugly. 'Stupid stupid STUPID' she thought.

Arthur chuckled inwardly. He would've loved to express it outwardly, but he was afraid that Gwen would misinterpret his laughter for mocking her. Far from it, he was laughing at how she practically tripped over her words making she didn't offend anyone. From his brief impression of her, she was the one who should be the least concerned about that.

"Guinevere, it's alright," Arthur said. He decided to lay a hand on her arm in a reassuring manner. However, instead of reassuring Gwen it elicited a short gasp from her mouth. Gwen had never felt the electricity she experienced from Arthur's presence. But when his hand laid on her arm in a comforting manner the shock was so huge her mouth curved into a perfect "O" and a rather large intake of air came in. The tingling feeling travelling up from her arm, and slowly spreading to every other part of her body. Arthur too felt the tingling sensation between where their bodies made contact. He felt the sense travel and spread throughout his body from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. He enjoyed it immensely. However, reality has a way of crashing down everything.

He quickly withdrew his hand after her gasp. Arthur knew that he should not be experiencing these types of feelings-not after how he took advantage of Vivian's feelings to assuage his. Nor was Arthur expecting a simple touch to ignite such passion from within him. He didn't know what it was about this Gunievere, but whatever it was he wanted to find out more.

To be continued


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Hey Gwaine-right on time, thanks," Merlin said.

"No problem mate," Gwaine laughed. He cheerfully added, "Don't forget that drinks are on you tonight!"

Merlin groaned into the receiver. Although money wasn't a concern in his life, his wallet definitely felt considerably lighter after the condemning combination of Gwaine, alcohol, and the phrase "drinks on me". However, he had to be good on his word. After Gwen had accepted his offer to go to the restaurant, he discreetly texted Gwaine to call him in an hour. Furthermore, he had promised Gwaine the night's round all on him if he didn't ask any questions. Gwaine didn't need to be told twice to blindly accept an offer of free drinks.

"Fine, fine," Merlin said, "Same time and place?"

"Of course!" Gwaine said, and they hung up.

Merlin kept his cell phone up to his ear, and pretended to have a conversation with Gwaine. He was used to talking to himself after all the times Arthur decided to ignore his jests. Merlin kept throwing cursory glances at Arthur and Gwen. At first they were awkwardly conversing. He saw Gwen go scarlet, and Arthur unknowingly mimic his own attempt to comfort her. However unlike when he did it, Arthur's touch brought out a deeper shade of red to Gwen's cheeks and her mouth dropped into a perfect "O" shape. He saw Arthur quickly remove his hand after seeing her reaction, and could sense the tension between them even from his considerable distance away.

Merlin was glad that he decided to "opt out" of their luncheon so to speak. This gave him the perfect opportunity to spy on them. Also, Merlin figured that this was the best way to tease Arthur. If Arthur made a fool of himself, he couldn't even blame him since he wasn't at the table! And Merlin liked the sound of that. 'Of course,' Merlin thought, 'this also means that if Arthur makes a fool of himself, I'll be the one to pay. I'll have to be the one he takes his frustration out on. Or else I'll get the "opportunity" to hear his griping until he can rectify the situation.'

As Merlin was wrapped up in his thoughts-and fake phone conversation-he suddenly sensed a change in the air. As he looked again in the direction of the table he saw Arthur's mouth moving and Gwen smiling. The awkward atmosphere had completely disappeared. He briefly wondered what Arthur had done or said, but it quickly fled his mind as he noticed the way he and Gwen were interacting. If Merlin hadn't known differently, he would've assumed they were two good ol' chums who went way back. 'Did I really space out that long?' Merlin wondered as he made his way back carefully to the table.

"…so then, Morgana got it in her head that **everyone**needed her special 'beautifying' potion. My father and I didn't have the heart to tell her that the only reason it worked on her dying, ugly flowers was because we planted some new ones for her while she was out! In any interview you've ever heard from her she swears upon her life that it was _this_ moment which inspired her to go into the cosmetics field. Perhaps that's why my father and I never bothered to tell her otherwise. " Arthur finished his anecdote as Merlin came up to the table, and Gwen's laughter tinkled across the restaurant.

"Hallo hallo," Merlin smiled as he sat down again. "Sorry that took so long. I hope I can promise it won't happen again," he offered Gwen.

Gwen smiled, "Oh don't worry about it Merlin. Arthur here was just telling me all about his sister, and I likewise was telling him about my brother."

"Oh?" Merlin's eyebrows rose. It took someone pretty special to make Arthur talk about his sister. He glanced over at Arthur who shot him a look which clearly said, 'Don't question or judge me right now _Mer_lin.'

"Yes, and it was quite…erm…informative as well as entertaining," Gwen teased, "Do you have any siblings Merlin?"

"Nah, I'm afraid not. My dad set off before I was born and my mum never remarried. So it was just me and my mum for most of my life. My uncle, Gaius, has been in my life a lot after I left home. When I came over here I promised my mum that I would go to Gaius-he's lived in England for a while now-when I arrived since I didn't know anyone else. He set me up with all the right contacts, and quicker than a blink of the eye here I am today. Friends with one of the greatest dollopheads in the country, and one of the most sought after bachelors as well," Merlin concluded his rather sad story with a wink.

Arthur scoffed at his pronouncement as Gwen merely giggled again. She wondered at how Merlin had that natural ability to make something which would normally depress and beat someone down into something with a whole new positive light as well as make a joke out of it.

The three of them talked for quite some time afterward. They learned about each other's professions, past lives, and current situations in life. As the waiter finally came around with the offer of dessert, Gwen checked her watch and suddenly jumped out of her chair as if it had burned her.

"I'm so sorry, but the time just slipped me by!" Gwen declared, hastily gathering up her things, "I have to go meet my-erm-my boy-boyfriend. He's being interviewed today, and wants me there for moral support."

She felt as if she rambled on at the end-and she was doing so well too!-but she caught Arthur's look as she stumbled over the phrase "my boyfriend". She felt the need to explain why she had to leave him as his face darkened over. Although, it was immediately replaced with the cold reality of the situation-she had a boyfriend, an amazing boyfriend, and she didn't have to explain herself to Arthur. Furthermore, she saw him with that blonde woman, so he really didn't have any right to have that look upon his features. That was what logical Gwen felt. But emotional, compassionate, kind, and caring Gwen felt differently. In the past few hours she had been with Arthur-and Merlin-she felt as if they had formed a friendship, and she hated to upset any of her friends.

"Here's my number," Gwen hastily scribbled on a piece of paper and tore it out. She handed it to Merlin, along with money for her lunch. However, Merlin waved away her money.

"Gwen, you don't need that! You're amongst friends. Honestly, I would be offended if you don't let me pay," Merlin grinned.

Gwen attempted again to pay, but in vain as Merlin again waved it off. Finally, sighing in defeat, Gwen pocketed her money and quickly left the building. She swung her bag over her shoulder and threw one last apologetic glance back their way before disappearing into the still long waiting line.

She felt bad about how her luncheon had ended. 'And it started out so good too,' she thought wistfully, 'Well, maybe a little awkward, but good.'

She walked quickly to the tube station, and made her way quickly to the studio Lance was being interviewed at. She was so intent on getting there she didn't notice the person bending over their shoelaces, and tripped over them.

"Oh my goodness-I am _so_sorry!" Gwen exclaimed, wide-eyed and put her hand over her mouth.

The man looked up and smiled-his straight pearly whites practically glistened in the sunlight. He had long brown hair, a beautiful tan, and-from what Gwen had felt-a good body.

"No worries, love," the man said as he checked her out, "I'm Gwaine, and you?"

"Guinevere Leodegrance," Gwen said, a bit distracted, "I'm terribly sorry, but I am running a bit late."

"No problem," Gwaine laughed, "Maybe you and I could get a drink sometime?"

"Mmmm," was the noise Gwen decided to respond with in a very non-committal tone.

"Here's my card," Gwaine reached into his jacket and pulled out his business card, "Call me later and I'm sure a round of drinks will more than make up for you thinking I was a bit of the pavement."

Gwen merely took the card, smiled, nodded, and ran off again. She wondered at how clumsy she had been these past few days, and all of these handsome men handing her their cards. 'First Arthur, now this Gwaine fellow,' she thought. As she approached the doors leading into the studio she finally took a few seconds to look down at what the card said as she straightened out her skirt and hair.

Gwaine Macken

Model: Abercrombie and Fitch, Ralph Lauren, GQ

+1-234-555-0918

Gwen was still musing upon her bad-or good depending on how you looked at it-fortune at running into handsome strangers when she knocked on the glass door leading into the filming studio. She could see Lance behind it, talking with the camera men and laughing. He was sitting on a chair in front of the cameras, but it didn't look like they were on. In another part of the room, the interviewer was reviewing their questions that he had prepared to ask Lance.

As Gwen knocked, her boyfriend looked up and smiled. He quickly made his way to the door, and courteously opened it for her.

"Thanks," Gwen said at Lance gave her a quick peck on the cheek. He took up her hand and held it in his, squeezing it as he did so.

"No problem. Thanks for being here with me," Lance said, "The cameramen said that you can stand-or sit-behind the cameras right there." He pointed to a place that would be directly in front of his sight.

"That sounds great, thanks," Gwen replied as he escorted her over to the area he gestured at. He quickly pulled out a chair and Gwen sat down in it, dropping her bag on the floor. She had discreetly dropped Gwaine's card in it as well.

Lance moved back over to where he had been sitting, and the interviewer called out over his shoulder, "Five minutes until we air chaps!"

Everyone nodded, and resumed preparing for the shoot. Gwen bounced her foot up and down as she waited for the production to get started. She hoped that it wouldn't take very long when she heard her phone go off.

"Excuse me mam, but that will have to be silenced when we film," a cameraman told her.

"I'm sorry, I'll do that right now," Gwen replied as she picked up her phone.

She noticed that she had a text message on it, and quickly opened it. It read,

Hey theres an art gala sat night. My projects r the main display. I would love 4 u 2 come. If u can.

-Merlin

She smiled. 'Count on Merlin to always make someone feel included and welcome, even after a disastrous end to our lunch,' she thought.

I can't wait. C u there.

...

It did not escape Arthur's notice that Gwen didn't hand him her number-nor did it escape Merlin's.

"Excuse me sir, but will you not be having dessert then, today?" the waiter politely asked.

Both Merlin and Arthur had forgotten her presence.

"Yes, yes, sorry no dessert for me. Just the check," Merlin directed in their direction. Then, he pocketed Gwen's number carefully, and inhaled deeply before turning towards Arthur. He opened his mouth, but before he could Arthur held up his hand.

"Just-don't Merlin. I get it. I'll probably never see her again," Arthur said in a flat, monotone voice.

"Arthur, hear me out-" Merlin attempted to say before being cut off again by the dark look Arthur gave him.

"Fine then," Merlin grumbled, "Don't listen to what I have to say. If you do that forget about me paying. It's your tab now."

Merlin rose and threw down his napkin on the table before grabbing his jacket and stalking out of the restaurant.

Arthur inwardly groaned. 'How had today gotten so bad?' he thought, 'First finding out that Gwen is romantically linked with Lance, then the debate could've gone better, then Vivian, then finding out that _Mer_lin invited Gwen to lunch, then a confirmation _from_Gwen that she's dating Lance, and now this!'

He put his head on the table as the bill arrived. As he resignedly paid for the food, he heard his phone go off. As he handed the bill back to the waiter and pulled on his jacket he answered his phone, not bothering to look at the caller id. Although he wished he had when he heard a loud nasally voice in his ear screech, "Arthur!"

Arthur was plotting ways to murder himself. It just _had_to be Vivian. They had only been apart for a few hours!

"I just can't stop thinking about that kiss, and I was wondering…you know…what our 'status' is now," she concluded.

Arthur was dumbfounded. 'Only a little kiss and a few hours later she thinks that we need to _talk__about__our__relationship__status_?' he thought. He couldn't believe this. All he wanted was to be with Gwen. Especially after lunch. Despite the awkward beginning and the abrupt ending, he had learned a great deal about her. And that she really was one amazing woman. He hoped to woo her-if he could-away from Lance, but this annoying blonde wouldn't leave him alone. However, Arthur wasn't a monster. He was still a gentleman, and wondered how to let her down slowly.

"Listen…Vivian," Arthur began, "I don't really know if we need to 'talk' about our 'status' or anything like that…after all, it was just one kiss, right?"

"Just one kiss?" Vivian asked. Arthur could hear the hurt emanating from her voice. He wanted to slap himself. It wasn't Vivian's fault that he had foolishly kissed her back.

"Well, yeah," Arthur shrugged.

"Oh. Okay," Vivian sounded defeated. Arthur didn't want it to end _this_ way.

"Oh don't be upset. I mean, a kiss between co-workers is nothing life-altering. In fact, I would say that it would be hardly newsworthy!"

Suddenly he heard tears over the phone. How on earth he managed to say exactly the wrong things at exactly the wrong time would continuously baffle him.

"Look look, don't cry!" Arthur pleaded as he walked down the street. He was taking the day off early and going home. After the debate, he and his team had agreed that there was nothing major to be done, so he could get some well-deserved time off. In hindsight, Arthur was very glad of this decision. It meant that he wouldn't have to walk towards the building which probably held this crying intern as he spoke.

"If you like, there's an art gala this Saturday that I'm attending. It's for Merlin, and I need a date. Would you like to come with me?" Arthur asked. He immediately regretted the words which left his mouth. 'Nice going Arthur Pendragon,' he scolded himself.

However his words had the effect they were meant to induce. For now, at the other end of the line instead of crying there was laughter.

"Oh Arthur," Vivian gushed, her mood completely turned around, "I would _love_to go as your _date._ What do I need to wear? Is it a formal event? Or casual? Do I need anything special? When will you plan on picking me up?"

As Vivian bombarded Arthur with questions it was all Arthur could do from dry heaving. Now, thanks to his big mouth and compulsion to "be a gentleman" he was stuck with Vivian all Saturday evening. And now he wasn't even sure that she heard the part about the kiss meaning nothing.

"Yes it's a formal event," Arthur sighed in the phone, "I'll pick you up around six and we can head straight over to the gala. See you then."

It was a straightforward, and rather short, end to their phone call. He cut her off before she was even done shrieking her joy to the heavens about being his date. The gala started at six-thirty, and she lived precisely thirty minutes away from the building the gala was held at. He wondered at how he knew where each of his employees lived-due to their background checks-and for once was glad he did because there was no way that he would spend more time than necessary with her. He didn't offer dinner before the event, since he felt that his big mouth already ruined his Saturday for him.

As Arthur made his way home, he received a text from Merlin. It read,

Hey. When r u coming home? I have some news about the gala!

As Arthur wondered what it could be, Merlin pondered over his choice to bring Gwen and Arthur to the same public event. 'Maybe this is be a bad idea,' he thought, a little too late.

To be continued


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Arthur arrived at his house soon after Merlin sent him the text. He opened the door and walked straight towards his studio/office. He knew that he could always find Merlin there. If not, he was most likely in the kitchen. Morgana's old chambers were unofficially avoided by both Merlin and himself-there were too many sad and bad memories associated with them.

As Arthur strode into Merlin's studio he indeed found the young man hard at work painting a new creation. His attire hadn't changed much. Only that he had taken off his blazer and donned his running shoes once more.

Arthur leaned against the doorframe as Merlin said, "One second."

Merlin's tongue was held in place by his teeth, and his head looked as if it was at a very unnatural angle. His eyes squinted at the canvas before suddenly exclaiming victoriously. He threw down his paint brush and looked up at Arthur with a wide grin-and added bits of paint-on his face.

"So what grand news did you have for me?" Arthur cut straight to the chase. He was a straight-forward no-nonsense character.

Merlin's eyes glinted mischievously before saying, "Not so fast! You need to apologize for what happened at lunch today. _And_, you need to tell me that I am The King of All Things Awesome. And the best friend you could ever have!"

Arthur merely glared at him before uttering his trademark phrase, "Shut up _Mer_lin."

"Fine, fine, DON'T hear my news then! See if I care," Merlin waved him off airily, and began to pick up his abandoned brush.

Arthur narrowed his eyes further at the raven-haired man. Merlin knew how infuriated he could get when he didn't know something.

"_Mer_lin," Arthur began, warningly. Merlin knew that Arthur could only be provoked so far.

"Alright alright…don't get your knickers in a bunch now," Merlin laughed, "Guess who I invited to the gala this Saturday! And who I-conveniently-forgot to tell that we needed dates for?"

Arthur felt the blood rush from his face. 'Please don't say Guinevere. Please don't say Guinevere…' his mind repeated.

"Guinevere!" Merlin exclaimed gleefully.

Arthur groaned. How was he going to get out of attending the gala now? He summed up the situation in his mind. '1) I have to attend a stupid art gala 2) I have devoted my Saturday night to being stuck to Vivian 3) I get to see Guinevere at the gala, but not on my arm 4)Most likely if Merlin tells her that she needs a date she'll be going with Lance 5) I kissed Vivian, and Guinevere has a boyfriend 6) My life is ridiculously screwed up'

Merlin could sense that Arthur was processing a lot on his mind. He could practically see the gears turning behind his head.

"Arthur," Merlin began, "What's wrong? You haven't been acting like yourself since you've met Gwen. Is it about me inviting her when she's dating Lance? Because that's why I didn't tell her that she needed a date. I figured that you could ask her, and we could think up an excuse for why Lance can't go or something…"

Here, Arthur began to tune Merlin out. He was rambling, and although Arthur appreciated Merlin's efforts, he doubted that Merlin would be able to help him get his way out of the very deep hole he had dug himself. Arthur weighed the options carefully. He didn't want to tell Merlin what had happened over the past two days, but on the other hand he needed to so that Merlin could understand the situation.

"Ok Merlin," Arthur sighed, "Look…"

And he proceeded to explain to Merlin what had happened. When he was done, Merlin raised his brow. He couldn't believe what had happened with Arthur and Vivian. And now, to make matters worse, he invited Gwen. 'In hindsight,' Merlin thought, 'Probably inviting her and hoping that she'd go with Arthur while she had a boyfriend _was_a bit of a stretch…'

"Arthur, I can't believe you toyed with Vivian's emotions like that," was what Merlin settled on replying with.

"I know I know," Arthur groaned, "It's so wrong…"

Merlin vigorously nodded his head and said, "So you better take her out on a nice date."

A non-committal noise was all Arthur could summon in response. However, he had the decency to still look partially ashamed.

"And I better text Gwen that she needs a date," Merlin added.

Arthur's eyes clouded over at that statement. Guinevere may have been dating Lance, but Arthur still believed her to be his. He knew that it was wrong to be jealous of a man who she was dating first, but Arthur didn't care. However, he didn't want Merlin to go off and lecture him, so he merely grunted in response and stormed out of Merlin's studio.

.…

Saturday arrived quickly for Gwen. She had gotten Merlin's text about a date as Lance's interview was ending. Before she could even figure out how she was going to explain to Lance why she was going to an art gala in honor of the best friend of his opponent, her boyfriend snuck up behind her.

_-Flashback-_

"Hey," he greeted with a peck on her cheek, and pointed towards her phone, "Who's that?"

'For once his selfless nature is not attractive,' Gwen decidedly thought. He always asked about her before telling her about his day. Since this selfless quality of his paired with his powers of observation, Gwen couldn't hide anything from him. Not that she usually tried, but sometimes she wished she could have a little more time to think up an explanation to awkward topics. Like this one. This particular topic Lance would understand about, as always, but the way his eyes would shine with sadness or disappointment would always make Gwen feel quite guilty.

"Oh, it's-um-Merlin. You know, Merlin Emrys the painter," Gwen offered. She wasn't going to mention Arthur if she didn't have to.

"Oh yes, I know him," Lance said as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, "He just recently sold that one for what was it-two million pounds or something like that?"

"Yes," Gwen said, "Well he invited me to come to this art gala on Saturday and I need a date. Would you like to be mine?"

She finished her question with a sweet smile up at Lance, but instead of returning it he frowned.

"Wait a second, you mean Merlin Emrys as in Arthur Pendragon's best friend, Merlin Emrys?"

'Shoot,' Gwen thought.

"Um, well yes," she said, "But you'll probably not even see Arthur-I mean Mr. Pendragon there. He's awfully busy and sought after like you are. I doubt we'll even be near him."

'When did I start referring to him as Arthur?' Gwen wondered. Before meeting the man, she always referred to him as Mr. Pendragon or "the enemy" when she was having a laugh with Lance. She always thought that knowing someone on a "first-name basis" was rather special, and you needed their permission to do so. That was why she always introduced herself with the addition of "you can call me Gwen". Then she realized she had started after she had met him. After he had walked her-almost-home and kissed her cheek. The same cheek and same spot that Lance had kissed a few moments ago. She wondered at how natural and right it felt to be able to call him Arthur.

Her slip did not go unnoticed by Lance. He knew her policy and feelings towards titles and respect.

"Arthur? Since when do you know the man well enough to call him Arthur?" Lance queried.

"Oh, well I um, don't really know. See, Merlin and I met at the debate and we took lunch together. Then Art-Mr. Pendragon showed up, and we all started talking and such. Merlin was a really great guy," Gwen hurriedly explained. She hoped that Lance wouldn't prod her for anymore answers.

Apparently, these satisfied Lance, or else he could sense her discomfort. For he had dropped the topic and simply asked, "Well then, would you do me the honor of attending this art gala with me?"

_-End Flashback-_

Thankfully, Lance had understood and was excited about escorting her to such a high-class event. So Gwen's mind could rest easy for the rest of the week. It was only Tuesday when the invitation occurred, and her life had turned completely upside down. Monday she had met Arthur on the tube coming back from work, and only earlier that day she had met Merlin at the debate.

Now that it was Saturday, Gwen decided to take most of the day preparing for the night's events. Normally, she wouldn't have "wasted" her day away, but she wanted to look particularly good for this highly publicized event. 'It had absolutely nothing to do with Arthur's presence at the gala', she told herself.

….

Saturday arrived quickly for Arthur as well. He was finishing putting on his diamond cufflinks in front of the mirror as Merlin came wandering into his bedroom. Merlin was already done dressing. His hair was neatly combed, and his back shoes were polished to a shine. His black tuxedo with silver cufflinks was the epitome of class and elegance, and his blue shirt matched the exact shade of his eyes.

"So are you ready to go pick up Vivian?" Merlin asked.

Arthur rolled his eyes as he deliberately didn't turn around from the mirror to face Merlin. Unfortunately for Arthur, Merlin could still see his reflection and scoffed at Arthur's reaction to his inquiry.

"Oh come on, you promised. Get on out of here," Merlin said calmly, "I'll meet you at the event."

With that, he disappeared from sight.

Arthur sighed, and grabbed his phone, keys, and invitation before heading out the door to hail a cab. He arrived too quickly for his taste at Vivian's abode. He got out of the cab and knocked on her door, pressing the intercom button.

"Vivian, I'm downstairs," Arthur said into the device.

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute," Vivian's excited voice back through the speakers.

Arthur checked his watch. It read six o'clock on the dot. The event started in half an hour. He hated people who were not ready on time. However, he didn't mind another few blissful moments without Vivian.

It turned out to be longer than a minute. It was precisely five minutes before she came bounding out through the door.

Although Arthur was upset that he was forced to go on a date with the woman, and wait for her to "be ready", he couldn't deny that she was lovely.

She wore a deep emerald green dress that enhanced the color of her eyes. Its plunging neckline didn't escape Arthur's notice, nor did the way it hugged her curves in all the right places. Its long sleeves were embroidered with gold at the ends, along with the hem of her dress and the boarder of her neckline. Her golden heels were only noticed when she took a step and Arthur heard the "clicking" of them in her step. Her hair was styled in a fancy up-do, with a single strand curling around her face. A gold necklace was also sported around her neck, and dangled tantalizingly far into her neckline.

"You look great," Arthur initiated the conversation, holding out his arm for her.

She accepted and looked his up and down, "You don't look half bad yourself."

They walked towards the cab, and Arthur released her arm to open the door for her. Despite his misgivings about this date he did appreciate her beauty. He also acknowledged that by the end of the evening she would hopefully understand that he meant what he said by the kiss meaning nothing. They were merely attending a social function together. Nothing more.

As the car started Vivian couldn't help but give Arthur another look over. He looked so handsome in his ebony tuxedo and crisp white shirt that she just had to stare. She could tell from the way the clothes hung on his body that he was a very fit man. Although, she had already known that from the days when they would "workout" together. The perfectly polished shoes, diamond cufflinks, and the golden hair which didn't have a strand out of place didn't escape her notice as well.

"I love your cufflinks," Vivian offered as an icebreaker to fill the silence.

Indeed, those were her favorite part of his attire. She knew he was wealthy, but this display of it confirmed her suspicions further.

"Thank you," was Arthur's short reply.

There was a hint of finality in his voice, and the taxi was silent for the remainder of the journey.

It wasn't as if Vivian was trying to offend Arthur, but pointing to the richest part of his attire did exactly that. He liked people who weren't interested in the material things in life. He required that quality in a future girlfriend let alone a future wife. Vivian wasn't really helping her chances of securing Arthur's heart. Nor was she favoring herself to him.

As the taxi pulled up in front of the large museum, Arthur stepped out of the car and opened Vivian's door, offering his arm again. He quickly paid the driver and ushered them inside. He was exactly five minutes late to the event, and he hated being late.

The first person he ran into inside was Merlin. It appeared to be as if the raven-haired man had been waiting for Arthur's arrival. Then again, Merlin was greeting everyone personally.

"Arthur!" the lanky figure in the entryway exclaimed.

"Merlin," Arthur coolly acknowledged.

"Vivian," Merlin said, "How lovely that you could make it."

"The pleasure is all mine," Vivian replied smiling.

"I hope you have a wonderful time," Merlin smiled, and then looked over their heads-another pair were arriving. Arthur and Vivian took the hint and made their way inside.

The museum looked amazing. The place had a very inviting atmosphere. The lighting was soft and golden. There were pieces of art upon the walls, each with their own light fixture to highlight their various qualities. People were already standing in clusters around the spacious room chatting about the various pieces on display. There were some tables draped with heavy white cloths and high-backed chairs on the outskirts of the room, away from the art, that some people already sat at. There was a podium with a microphone positioned in front of the tables which was currently empty. Over in a far corner there was also a bar with a seemingly endless supply of drinks and food laid out. Caterers were interspersed amongst the guests with trays piled high with finger foods. The museum really outdid itself.

As Arthur was admiring his surroundings, he heard Gwaine's voice. He turned around and sure enough the man was approaching him at a quick pace-drinks already in hand.

"Arthur!" Gwaine clapped him on the back, "Who is the lovely lady with the unfortunate luck to deserve your company?"

"Hey watch it-" Arthur started, as Vivian interrupted him.

"Vivian Remington," she said with a hint of distain. She didn't like that Gwaine had insulted Arthur-however jokingly.

"Gwaine Macken," he bowed, taking her hand and kissing it.

"So Gwaine," Arthur interjected. He did not want to be left alone for long with Vivian, and Gwaine had popped up at the perfect time, "What's new with you?"

"Oh nothing much. Well, you know, besides being an international supermodel…" Gwaine droned on about his most recent conquests throughout his profession. His intent being to impress the pretty girl on Arthur's arm. It seemed to work, she was enthralled by his anecdotes, but the air of distain hadn't disappeared.

Arthur was just glad that he wouldn't have to be stuck with Vivian alone when a sight caught his eye by the door. It was then that time didn't seem to be working properly, for everything had stopped. He had seen the loveliest vision in the entire world enter through the threshold on the arm of another.

Her black curls were free, and fell in loose waves on her bare back. Her strapless deep red dress' back stopped just short of her lower back, although her hair covered most of her sun kissed skin. She had golden stilettos on, and a beautiful golden necklace and bracelet to match. She looked a little nervous, and her eyes darted about the room. When she locked eyes with Arthur, however, she too stopped. Her date looked a little perturbed at her abrupt halt, but she was just as mesmerized as Arthur was. Each basked in each other's eyes as time seemed to stop-just for a moment-for the two of them.

To be continued


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry this took so long. The muse was not coming for this chapter. And once it did I had a big choice to make about where I wanted my story to go. I hope you like which direction I chose (when it's all over with).

Chapter 8

He looked majestic. His golden hair glinted in the soft light, and his dark tuxedo contrasted nicely with his lighter skin. His baby blues caught her eyes, and she felt unable to look away. He had a woman-the blonde one she saw him snogging earlier-on his arm. However, he seemed completely unaware and uninterested in her. Until she lightly slapped his arm, and her tinkling laughter of, "Oh Arthur…" came drifting over the mindless chatter.

As their gaze broke, Gwen's attention to her surroundings came rushing back to her. She saw Merlin shake Lance's hand, and bow to her. He glanced at her hand, and she held it out for him to gently brush his lips against it.

"My lady," Merlin gallantly said, "This must be the good Sir Lance DuLac?"

"I am indeed," Lance laughed, "And you must be Merlin Emrys-the man I've heard so much about from Gwen, here."

"I'm glad I've made such a favorable impression," Merlin blushed, "Please, feel free to look around, take some refreshments, and make yourselves comfortable. There's going to be a short little speech later tonight, and the tables already have the seating arrangements and place cards all planned out."

Lance nodded, and Gwen smiled distractedly as they moved away from the door to let others in.

"I'm afraid I don't know anyone here," Lance whispered to Gwen, "Although, when you have the most beautiful lady in the room on your arm, who else do you need to know?"

"Lance," Gwen smiled and swatted his arm playfully. She was being silly fretting over Arthur.

"What?" he chortled, "It's true! Why I don't think I've ever seen you look lovelier Gwen. I know this is a formal occasion, but I don't think I've ever seen you so gussied up before! What's the occasion?"

"The occasion? Why this is of course! I can't look exceptionally nice for a formal outing?" Gwen teased.

"Well of course you can. You never cease to surprise me Gwen," Lance said as he steered them towards the bar in the back.

As they came up to the bar, Lance said, "a Black Velvet please, and-"

Here, Lance looked questioningly at Gwen.

"None for me, thanks," Gwen smiled.

"Coming right up" the bartender replied.

"In fact, if you will excuse me, I have to use the ladies' room," Gwen said as she untangled herself from Lance's arm.

As she made her way to the back she saw Arthur again. This time, it was from the back of the head. He was still chatting with the blonde woman, and the man who she thought gave her the business card-what was his name? Gwaine or something like that. His hair was still dazzling, and she noticed how his tux particularly emphasized his assets from the behind. She was so focused on Arthur that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and knocked over a caterer in the process of walking.

When she came back from the loo, she saw Lancelot. He was talking and smiling with the man who had given her the business card. She didn't really want to go and interrupt their "guy bonding" so she decided to hang back for a little bit and look at all the other guests.

She observed Arthur first. He was hard to miss-especially when Gwen was subconsciously seeking him out. He was in the corner farthest away from her current position, and the blonde was still dangling on his arm. Nothing new there, so her eyes swiveled to rest upon Merlin. He was excitedly gesturing to his art upon the walls to an elderly looking couple who looked quite bemused and scared of the young man's sheer enthusiasm. She saw lots of people she didn't know, but one girl in particular caught her eye. It wasn't because she was particularly more beautiful, but because there was something off about her. Yes, her beauty was great. She had black hair which was in shimmering waves down her back, which offset her deep purple dress. However her brown eyes, which would have otherwise been quite lovely, shone with deep sorrow and fear. She was tucked into the corner of the room, almost as if she was attempting to hide from someone. Her eyes were darting back and forth like she was looking for someone. However, Gwen had no time to contemplate the girl further as an announcement was made by an older looking gentleman.

"Ladies and gentleman, please take your seats. We would like to begin the event."

Gwen hurriedly went over to Lance before she lost him in the sea of people that were heading over to the tables that were spread out in front of the podium. They linked arms as they met, and soon surrendered themselves to the tide of bodies pushing them towards their seats. Every place had a name tag by it, so that no one had to really squabble for seats. It was easy enough to see how people were arranged. The most important people sat closer to the podium, and the lesser invitees sat towards the back.

Gwen instinctively made her way towards the back of the arrangement first. She figured that Merlin just invited her as a spur of the moment decision. However, her surprise increased with each step she took towards the front as she realized that her name was not on any of the placeholders in the back. She was forced to go with Lance all the way to the very front tables. Keeping her head down, she kept her eyes on the writing, barely looking at who else would be with her. She was noticing the rapid decline of people wandering about trying to find their names, and she didn't want to be embarrassed. However, her she didn't have to worry for she soon found her name (and Lance's), and quickly sat down with relief so quickly that Lance didn't even have time to wonder how her arm became dislodged from his, or be offended that he didn't pull her seat out for her. As Gwen looked up, her surprise at where she was quickly quadrupled in quantity. She was at the very table which held the man of the hour himself, Merlin, with his friend Gwaine, and-

"Arthur." Gwen breathed as her eyes came to rest upon his face.

….

The shin-dig was really coming into full swing as the stream of guests stopped gushing, and the champagne was flowing. Everyone was having a good time-except for Arthur. He was stuck to Vivian the entire night. Somehow he had been trapped with her on his arm, and Guinevere nowhere in sight. He didn't see her at all until a rather stuffy looking old man announced that everyone should take their seats.

He knew exactly where he would be placed-right next to Merlin, with Vivian unfortunately by his side. He took his seat quickly, knowing this, but not before pulling out Vivian's chair for her. He wanted the evening to end very soon. He didn't want to be forced to watch Lance and Gwen exchange smiles any more.

Gwaine quickly followed Arthur to find his seat at the table of honor. As soon as he found his name tag he promptly plopped himself down in his seat and motioned for a waiter to bring him yet another drink. He continued to eye Vivian, who scooted closer to Arthur, firmly wrapping her hands around his firm biceps. Arthur wanted to disentangle himself from her grasp, and was so caught up in trying to figure out a way to do so that he was surprised when he heard his name uttered by the most melodious voice.

"Arthur."

Arthur pulled himself out of his strategizing to find his chair directly opposite of Gwen's.

"Guinevere," Arthur said surprised. He could not keep himself from smiling as he said her name, something which Vivian instantly cued in on.

Lance likewise saw the turn of his date's lips upwards. He was concerned about the smile, but more worried about how she still referred to the man as "Arthur". She hadn't even bothered to cover her slip-up and address him as "Mr. Pendragon". However, these irritated thoughts stopped suddenly when he saw the blonde clutching Arthur's arm as if her life depended on it.

'She is very pretty,' Lance thought as he gazed at her. However, these thoughts were quickly dispelled from his mind as Gwen put her gentle pressure on his arm and asked,

"Lance would you pass me the water jug, please?"  
>"Certainly," Lance said, covering up his "space out" with a quick shake of his head.<p>

Gwen smiled as he poured the water, and thanked him, but Arthur noticed that it didn't quite meet her eyes. She seemed distracted, like something was bothering her. He secretly hoped it was because Vivian's arm was on his, but Gwen didn't seem like the jealous type. Unlike himself. He was deeply irritated when Gwen sat down with Lance, and a protective feeling surged inside of him as he watched their hands touch when Lance poured her water. Evidently she didn't hear him speak her name aloud.

"Hi, I'm Vivian Remington, Arthur's girlfriend, and you are?" Vivian rather abruptly inquired of Gwen. She broke Arthur out of his trance as she did so, but seemed to catch the eye of Lance.

"I'm Guinevere Leodegrance, but I go by Gwen. I'm Lance's-erm-girlfriend," Gwen quickly concluded. She could visibly see Arthur's face darken. She wondered at this fact, when he seemed to be in a relationship, and knew that she was also in one. There was no way he could be jealous.

"Actually, she's not my girlfriend," Arthur interjected, removing Vivian's hand from his arm, "She's my date to the event. Being single and all, sometimes it's hard when a date's required to a party like this."

Vivian was taken aback and glowered slightly. She had thought that after their kiss it was clear that they were an item. Apparently not. Or at least, not to Arthur. So she did the first thing which came to her jealous mind.

"Really? Lance as in _the _Lance DuLac? You must be really lucky!" she shrieked. If Gwen was to have the attentions of Arthur, she couldn't also have the attention of her boyfriend. She had to pick one, and Vivian decided to pick for her.

"Yes, I suppose I am," she replied.

"Tell me how did you two meet, Lance?" Vivian directed her questioning towards Lance.

"Well, it's um, it's a really great story actually…" Lance began rather nervously.

As he began to tell it to Vivian his body slowly began to turn towards her, and his stance began to change. He became more confident and at ease. He also smiled and laughed more frequently as Vivian responded with equal laughter.

If Arthur and Gwen didn't know any better, they would both say that they were the ones who were dating. They were left behind completely forgotten as Lance quickly drifted away from the story of how they met, and a humorous story involving his campaign which Gwen had never heard.

Meanwhile Merlin and Gwaine, at the other section of the table, were joking and laughing around. It was clear that they were both a little tipsy-one more than just slightly intoxicated-and they were soon making outrageous bets.

"I bet you that I can pick up more of these beauties than you tonight," Gwaine slurred.

"Oh yeah?" Merlin laughed back. He was slightly drunk, but not bad. Just enough of a light happy buzz to clear the uneasy feeling in his stomach about making a speech.

"Yup." Gwaine announced confidently.

"I'll have you know that I could have any of my pick in this room!" Merlin pronounced, "In fact, who's to say that I haven't already?"

He raised his eyebrows suggestively as Gwaine loudly guffawed.

However, before anything else could continue to proceed, however, the old man cleared his throat at the podium in front of all the tables.

The chatter quieted down rapidly as he said, "Thank you for coming tonight ladies and gentlemen. My name is Gaius Wilson, and as you know, tonight was in celebration of my nephew, Merlin's, fantastic achievements. However, none of this would honestly be possible without your support. And now, Merlin would like to say a few words."

At his cue, Merlin stood and walked over to the front of the room, shaking Gaius' hand as he reached the stand. He swayed slightly, but Gaius helped straighten him right side up. Not before shooting his a quick withering glance with the disappointment radiating off the raise of his eyebrow.

"Like Gaius said, none of this would be possible without your guys' support. I would really like to give my sincerest thanks from the bottom of my heart that you all came. First I would like to thank…"

As Merlin rattled on, Arthur began to drift off and stared at Gwen, who was sitting with rapt attention at Merlin's speech. She looked so beautiful.

Unlike Vivian, Gwen had managed to look elegant without looking like an "easy sell". Vivian showed a lot of her bust with her tantalizing neckline, and a lot of her back with the dress starting at her lower back. Not to mention the slit which went up the side of her leg. If Vivian had a message to send to Arthur, she was sending it loud and clear. Gwen's dress was strapless, and had a small slit on the side to help her walk since the dress was so form fitting. She also had a plunging back, however it was done in a tasteful way. The gold which glinted at her wrist and neck complimented her skin tone beautifully. Arthur dully wondered if Lance had bought them for her. He wondered if Gwen was aware of his staring as she suddenly turned around and smiled at him. This promptly made him feel like an idiot as he quickly gave a sheepish smile and turned around to pay attention to Merlin. He was just finishing up his speech.

"…so once again thank you all for coming. Please, enjoy the rest of the evening and have a wonderful night." Merlin gave his final smile as he walked off the make-shift stage and came back to his table. Now seated were Gaius, Gwaine, Arthur, Vivian, Gwen, and Lance at the table, and he took his seat by Gwaine again.

Some of the guests stayed seated while others began to mill about once more. The party was nowhere near concluded. Merlin's table decided to stay seated and get to know each other.

Lance and Vivian resumed their previous conversation whilst Gwaine was passed out on the table. Gaius was checking his vital signs while Merlin looked on. Arthur and Gwen weren't really sure what to do.

"So Guinevere, you look absolutely stunning tonight," Arthur decided to begin with.

"Thank you, you do as well," Gwen smiled, "You really do clean up well."

"Thank you. So tell me, how's your life been since I last saw you at lunch? I'm sorry that we had to cut our time short."

"Oh if anyone should be apologizing it should be me. After all, I was the one who ran out of there."

"Nonsense," Arthur said warmly, but firmly, "You should never have to apologize for anything."

Gwen lightly blushed, "Well, anyways I had to run. I was meeting Lance for his interview which I think went quite well. Although I'm sure your campaign is also going well."

Arthur laughed. It was just like Gwen to be considerate of his campaign when she was dating his rival, and most likely agreed with his political opinions if she did so.

"Yes, I think it is. Tell me Guinevere, what do you think of all of it? Politics, I mean. I know it's only late November, and the elections aren't until May, but it's always great to get more people's opinions."

"Well, as a lawyer I understand politics well enough, I suppose. I guess the most important thing to me is that we help, provide, and care for as many people as possible. I mean, that's what being a leader is all about, right? Caring about your country, and making sure everyone is safe. Not only that, but how other countries interact with it. Also I'm a big supporter of making sure our country has great educational systems. After all, if our children aren't educated, what will our future look like? Pretty bleak, I reckon. Overall I guess whoever makes the better leader will be the one I will vote for. Of course, I can only speak for myself."

"Of course," Arthur agreed. He was amazed. Never once did she imply that her mind was firmly made up and was a hundred percent devoted to voting for Lance. She just wanted what was best for her country. Whether or not her boyfriend was the person to make that happen was not mentioned by her. Furthermore, she had a very strong opinion for what she envisioned for the country. She cared about everyone, and wasn't afraid to voice her opinions. This was a very different Guinevere from the stuttering, but cute, girl he saw earlier. This was more like the Guinevere he saw inside of her from their brief interactions-the Guinevere he knew was lawyer material.

"So then, if you were the one running for the elections and all that, what would you change about our country-if you could I mean?" he asked.

"Well, like I said I just want everyone to be safe and heard, if they need to be. I guess I'm not really sure what exactly I would change. However, one thing that I've noticed is that class differences are growing larger and that people in different classes don't interact as much or treat everyone with the same respect. I guess I would like to change that. I'd like to make sure that everyone gets the same respect and opportunities to become what they want to be. "

"I see," Arthur was only response as he mulled over what she said. She would make a great leader. He wasn't really sure what to say after this, so his mind turned to other subjects as he asked, "So then, how did you fall into the law business?"

Gwen giggled slightly, "It's a funny story actually. I had just graduated from uni, so I was looking around for a job. That's when my brother Elyan started to help me look around. Well he has this friend, Percival who's a police officer, and Percival knew a guy who knew a guy who worked at James and Jarban. So he got me an opportunity to get an interview at the firm. Now I come from a rather poor background, so I was already broke from earning my degree and I didn't have enough connections to get this myself. So obviously this was a huge chance for me. Well, the day of the interview came and who would've thought it, but I ran into Mr. Jarban himself! I was lost trying to find my way to the right door, and Mr. Jarban had a-erm-clothing emergency. He had spilled coffee right down the front of his expensive suit, and he had a major client to impress who was set to arrive in a few minutes. I know a thing or two about sewing-in fact if I didn't want to be a lawyer I guess I would have become something in the fashion industry. I make or tailor all of my own clothes. So I knew how to get that stain right out when he was slightly panicking about the whole situation. I immediately went to help him, and as I did-there's a trick to getting coffee stains out of silk, you know-he was so grateful he asked what I was doing there. When I told him I was looking to become the new intern at the place, he smiled and said to wait outside his office until he was done with the client and he would be back. True to his word, he came back after their meeting and went down to Rachel, who was my boss when I first got there, and told her to hire me immediately. He said he was impressed with me, and that I should be given a chance at the firm. He said he was impressed by my kindness, yet ability to take control of a situation. He said I could be the type of girl who people would trust and be relatable to after hearing of my background."

Gwen blushed as she concluded. She was so modest. Yet Arthur instantly had to agree with Mr. Jarban. He had correctly summed up her character in Arthur's mind. And how serendipitous that they would meet in such a way! It had to be fate.

"Guinevere, I think that Mr. Jarban is right. That sounds exactly like the type of person you are."

Arthur's sincerity was not lost on Gwen as she asked him, "Well I feel like I've spoken enough for a lifetime! Please, tell me about yourself."

Arthur had to chuckle, "What would you like to know? My story isn't anywhere near as interesting as yours."

"Well for starters, tell me about how you came to meet Merlin?"

"Ah. Well you see he used to date my sister…"

So wrapped up were each of the members of the table that no one noticed when Merlin slipped away, feeling like the seventh wheel. No one realized that he had disappeared the whole night before it slipped away from all of them. Suddenly, it was time to say good-bye and take their leave.

Arthur pulled out Guinevere's seat and Lance pulled out Vivian's despite the fact that both couples were on completely opposite sides of the round table. That seemed to slip both couple's minds. As each member said good-bye to the other they didn't realize they had each said good-bye to a person who was not their date.

Lance hurriedly got Gwen's jacket, and started to apologize profusely for ignoring her most of the night. Gwen just smiled and said it was alright. Lance felt guilty for ignoring her, yet he couldn't escape his thoughts turning to Vivian. She was selfish, yes, but there was something about her that was somehow alluring. Gwen on his arm was a slap to the face to him. He remembered how good he had it with Gwen-the kindest soul he had ever met. Not to mention his great friendship with Elyan. He wasn't about to ruin one of the greatest relationships he ever had for some girl that he had just met. On top of that, he was pretty sure he was in love with Gwen. He could feel the lump he had stored in his pocket graze his leg as he opened the door of the building for Gwen. The lump which contained the diamond ring which he had bought her months ago. They had been dating for about a year and she met all of the requirements of his dream girl. She was thoughtful, sensitive, and compassionate, smart, funny-not to mention drop dead gorgeous. He thought he knew what love was with her. Yet something about Vivian was there when he wasn't with Gwen. He couldn't tell what it was, but he wasn't a man who took risks. Especially risks which involved his future joy. As Lance got a cab and they went in, Gwen couldn't help but reminisce on her time with Arthur. There was just something there with him that she had never felt with Lance. But who was she to break-up with one of the best relationships she ever had to be with a man who never once said a thing about his snog with Vivian?

Meanwhile, Arthur got the door of the establishment for Vivian and escorted her to their cab. She felt triumphant at distracting Lance, but there was something more to it as well. She had genuinely enjoyed conversing with him. Although he was a little too "goody goody"-and poor-in comparison to most of the men she was attracted to, she could not deny there was something about his eyes that made her unable to sneer at him. His manners were impeccable, and he was easy on the eyes. Arthur was too busy wrapped up in his thoughts to notice her silence during the ride. He had a very enjoyable time with Guinevere that night. He had completely forgotten that she had arrived with another man, and she seemed to as well. She was starting to look like the ideal woman for him. She was smart, funny, opinionated, and courageous-a trait Arthur himself highly coveted.

As they pulled up in front of Vivian's house and he bade her goodbye, that's when he realized that she had been talking with Lance the whole night. He hoped that meant she had picked up on his not-so-subtle hint that they were _not "_an item".

When Arthur reached his home that night, he failed to realize that Merlin wasn't home yet. As he drifted off he vaguely wondered what had happened to him. Perhaps he had to stay back and clean-up after the party. Or perhaps he had gotten so drunk that he had forgotten where he lived-Merlin was easily a lightweight-even by non-British standards-when it came to his liquor. However, Arthur quickly expelled these thoughts from his mind as he drifted off to sleep with images of a brown eyed woman beneath his lids.

To be continued


	9. Chapter 9

WHO ELSE WAS FREAKIN IN LOVE WITH 4x13? :D IT MADE MY LIFE. ARWEN FANS FOR THE WIN!

So in honor of Christmas Eve/the Merlin Finale here's a short Christmas-related chapter!

Chapter 9

_Christmas Eve_

"You can do this man…you can do this," Arthur muttered to himself.

It had been a month since the party, and he and Guinevere had become great friends. But that was it. Friends. As he was constantly reminded when her cell phone beeped with Lance's name, or his "special ringtone" came on. He had finally convinced Guinevere that he and her had never existed, but he never told her why he kissed the blonde. Meanwhile, with Vivian he still couldn't get rid of her completely. She was still working at his campaign office, and was still trying to get his attention since their "date". Yet something seemed to be troubling her at the same time. It was as if something was bothering her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. He didn't have time to be bothered by her, however, when Gwen had invited him to her Christmas party.

He had never received an invitation to Gwen's house before, and he was a little nervous. All of her friends and co-workers would be there, and he wanted to impress them. He usually didn't care too much about what others thought about him, but this was for Guinevere. If he made a good impression on them, surely he wouldn't have that bad of a recommendation later. The problem was that the only people he knew would be Merlin, Gwaine, Gaius, and Lance. Somehow Gwen had instantly achieved an uncle-niece relationship with the old-timer, and had hit it off with Gwaine instantly. She and Merlin were already close, and it was natural that she would invite Lance. That left him. He wanted to present Gwen with something really special for Christmas, but he had no idea what. This was where the biggest problem really lay. They had talked a lot, sure. They had become the best of friends. Yet somehow he couldn't figure out what to get her. Nothing seemed….good enough.

So that's when he decided to drag Merlin along to go Christmas shopping with him at Harrods. And that's how he found himself muttering in front of the doors to the famous store with his best friend at his side. Merlin too seemed distracted, but Arthur didn't have time to ponder it. Merlin had been acting a little off since the party, but Arthur always seemed too busy to really investigate. He had simply asked Merlin what had caused his delay in coming home, and Merlin had said "stuff" as he shrugged. Thus, he just racked it up to "Merlin being Merlin". After all, the man was still his bright, cheery, optimistic self. He was still there for Arthur when he needed him, and completely useless at the most inconvenient of times.

They entered the building together-two souls who seemed seriously lost in a sea of marketing and high fashion. However, it wasn't all for naught. These were two of the top most eligible bachelors and wealthiest men in the country. That had to count for something. If nothing else they knew their designers.

Merlin and Arthur wandered through what felt like hundreds of stores. They looked at scores of dresses, shoes, handbags, perfume, and other things women would want. Yet nothing seemed "good enough" for Gwen, as Arthur put it. Well, not in those exact words, but Merlin knew that's what he meant when he left each store successively disgusted.

"Arthur, what's wrong with this?" Merlin sighed as they went to the umpteenth perfume shop.

He held out a bottle of classic Chanel No. 5, but Arthur merely shook his head.

"Too boring and expected," Arthur said.

They moved onto Dior, then Burberry, then Coach with no such luck. Finally they went to Tiffany's after spending four hours searching. That was when Arthur found it. The perfect gift for Gwen. It was a round pendant made of diamonds and platinum woven into and gorgeous and elegant design. Someone could instantly tell a lot of money was spent on the gift, but it wasn't so large that Gwen would be afraid to wear it in public.

"That one, please," Arthur said without hesitation. He hoped that Gwen would love it. He hoped that he would love him. In buying this necklace, it was his subtle way of wooing her without actually-wooing.

Merlin knew this, and he also knew that Gwen had a boyfriend. However, he couldn't ruin Arthur's happiness at finding the "perfect gift" for her.

They continued on in their purchases for their various friends and family. Merlin got Gwaine a twelve-pack, Gaius a new platinum business card holder (he was a doctor), and Gwen a bunch of roses. He went for the less ostentatious gift for her since he wasn't involved with her romantically. He also bought two mysterious packages while Arthur was in the loo, and refused to show him what they were. Arthur just reckoned that it was for him, and decided to abate his growing curiosity. Arthur likewise got Gwaine a copious amount of alcohol, Gaius a new leather briefcase, and Merlin a gift while his back was turned. As they made their way back home, they knew they were ready for the party.

….

Gwen's Christmas party was in full swing. All of her co-workers from work were at her place, along with all of her friends. Elyan was entertaining a young lady in the corner of the kitchen, and Gwaine was one the couch with a beer in hand and both arms wrapped around two lovely ladies. Percival was currently in the middle of a dart competition with Merlin, and both Arthur and Lancelot had disappeared. Arthur had arrived to the party right on the dot with Merlin in tow. They were both dressed up, but still semi-relaxed. Both of them wore blazers with button-up shirts, but with dark jeans underneath. Gwen herself had on a lovely short white party dress on with light blue trim. Currently, she was making sure all of her guests were comfortable, and they all seemed to be so. Yet the two men she cared the most about were absent.

The present exchange had already happened, for the most part. There was no set time or anything of that sort, people just gave their presents as they wished. Merlin had given Gwaine the beer which quickly went down to its last bottle, and Gwen some lovely roses. The flowers which were now sitting in a place of honor on her dining room table in a crystal vase. He had given Arthur a self-help book on developing one's listening skills which Arthur had promptly chucked at his head in a decidedly affectionate way. Gwaine had shown up with a bag of apples which he had won in a drinking game or another, and passed them around with a "Happy Christmas". Lance had given her Chanel No. 5, her favorite perfume, and she had given him a quick kiss for a thanks. Arthur had presented his presents last. He gave Gwaine a rather large dose of alcohol to go with Merlin's gift, and to Merlin he gave socks. When Merlin laughed at his gift, and asked what they were for, Arthur merely replied, "Don't be stupid." He hadn't given Gwen anything, and she felt surprisingly disappointed.

As the party was reaching its climax, Gwen wondered where two of her favorite guys had gone. That was when she heard a cough behind her. She turned around and saw Arthur standing behind her. His soulful blue eyes gave her a heart melting expression as he said, "I have something for you. But not here. Can we go outside? On the balcony?"

"Of course," Gwen smiled as Arthur led her out.

"So what is it that you wanted to give me?" Gwen smiled.

Arthur couldn't help but smile back. It was all too lovely. All too perfect. If only Gwen wasn't with Lance. As they stood outside for the few moments, underneath the stars on the cold, crisp night, Gwen felt herself begin to shiver. At the beauty of it all, at the chilling air to her shoulders, and at being in Arthur's presence.

"Here," Arthur said, smiling as he took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders.

"Thanks," Gwen blushed back.

"But that wasn't the only thing I wanted to give you," Arthur said, pulling a small, wrapped box out of his pocket, "Open it."

"You really don't have to give me anything," Gwen said.

"Nonsense, please. Open it. For me."

As Gwen delicately took off the silver ribbon and red wrapping paper, Arthur stared intently at her. He loved everything about Guinevere. The way her hair fell just so over her forehead as a stray curl escaped her bun. The way her eyes sparkled with excitement. The fact that they were just there together. The two of them without anyone else to stand in their way.

"Oh Arthur," Gwen sighed as the diamonds glinted from the light of the stars above her. She could barely believe that he had spent that much on her. In fact, she didn't want to believe it. The necklace was stunning-too stunning. She didn't even want to think about how much it had cost.

"I-I can't accept this," was the first thing that she could say. She had been struck speechless.

"Yes, you can. You deserve it Guinevere. You're an amazing woman," Arthur gently pushed. He knew Gwen was a selfless woman, and had been expecting her refusal.

"It wasn't that much, honest. Here, turn around," he said gently, motioning to the necklace.

She placed it lightly in his hand, and turned around. Arthur carefully raised his arms up around her, and laid the pendent upon her collarbone as he fastened the necklace on the back of her neck. His fingers brushed the nape of her neck oh so faintly, but he didn't miss the shivers which it caused her. As she turned around again, Arthur didn't realize how close they really were. The pendant now rested beautifully on her neck, and it matched her dress perfectly. It was as if Destiny had known that they would always match each other-even if they didn't know it. Her face was inches away from his, their lips both slightly parted and barely a breadth away. It was too close…too much for him. He saw her discreetly lick her lips, but it wasn't covert to him. He took in all of her, and breathed in a smell inexplicably _Guinevere_. It was intoxicating.

"Merry Christmas Guinevere," he said.

"Merry Christmas Arthur," she said.

He knew he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of her. The pull of another man's woman. That was when the spell was broken with a call,

"Gwen!"

Lance.

Immediately Gwen pulled away, hands quickly taking off the jacket which was around her shoulders and handing it back to Arthur.

"Thank you. For-for the gift, Arthur," Gwen stuttered out.

She quickly walked inside, leaving Arthur out in the cold, looking in through her sliding glass door. His perfect moment. Ruined. Gone forever. He thought that his heart wouldn't be able to take it, but then something else happened all together which made their destroyed piece in time like nothing.

He saw through the glass Lance pull Gwen into the middle of the circle of their friends. He saw him get down on one knee, and pull a box out from the depths of his jacket. He saw his mouth moving, forming words which weren't hard to decipher,

"Will you marry me?"

Arthur wanted to run-to escape. Yet he was trapped there, on the balcony. Waiting to see Gwen's response.

To be continued

For Arthur's necklace: flickr

.com/photos/pieces_of_jade/6579060337/


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry the link was broken in the last chapter . I think I fixed it now if you're curious about what the necklace looked like. Also, I added a snippet of dialogue between Arthur and Gwen, if you missed it : )

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLIN MORGAN! Oh…and something about a Happy New Year or other…

Chapter 10

Gwen was speechless. She wished that this moment wouldn't have come during her Christmas party. She would've rather had a nice quiet proposal, and time to think things through. Then, if she accepted, they could celebrate privately before announcing it to the world. But no. Apparently, Lance didn't want that.

She chewed on her bottom lip. An unfortunate habit that she had developed in childhood when she was nervous, stressed out, or thinking deeply. She wanted to say yes, she did! Lance was everything that Gwen had ever hoped to discover in a man. Not only that, but if she rejected him Elyan would be disappointed. He and Lance were the best of friends, and it would be supremely awkward to hang out afterwards. Also, she and Lance were an obvious pairing. He and she had met in a manner that was almost cliché. She could tell her children about how they met, and they would laugh at how perfect it would be. Oh and how lovely their children would be! They would grow up in a loving, stable household. Lance really was lovely. More than that, Lance was "safe". She knew that he had patience, and he never tried to pull anything on her to compromise her values. Arthur-wait how could she be thinking about Arthur during a proposal by Lance?-didn't have the best reputation around in those matters. However, now that her thoughts had strayed to Arthur, she began to think about all the things she loved about-well, not loved, more like "was intrigued" about than loved-him. She liked the way that he had proven his reputation wrong. He was honest, fair, chivalrous, noble, and an amazing friend. He had never tried to move past the "friend zone"-not that she knew if he even wanted to or not. Also, he was always there for her.

She remembered the day she was ill. The day that Lance was out promoting some campaign thing or another, Merlin was visiting his mother back in Ireland, and Elyan was away for work for the entire week. She normally could take care of herself, and hated to impose on anyone, but necessity had demanded it.

-_Flashback-_

A fortnight ago:

Gwen woke up with a throbbing headache, a sore throat, runny nose, cough, and a fever. She had been sick in the past, but it was nothing compared to this. It was the worst case of the flu she had ever had. She wanted to get out of bed to make herself from tea, but the minute she tried to sit up she felt dizzy. As she lied back down she realized she was shivering, and pulled the blankets tighter around her small frame. She didn't want to call anyone to tell them that she was sick. She hated being a burden to anyone, but she was forced to concede that she was too ill to manage on her own. She knew when a battle was lost. 'What a great way to start a Saturday,' Gwen thought.

She groped for her phone which lay on her bedside table. Bleary-eyed she scrolled through her contacts, before realizing the only one she knew wasn't busy was Arthur. She didn't want to call. At all. She barely knew the man, really. They had met a little over two weeks ago, and Gwen wasn't sure that it was proper to "call in a favor" yet. Sure they had been spending almost all of her free-time together (with Merlin there about half the time), and had gotten on really well, but the "I'll owe you one" didn't seem appropriate yet. An internal battle raged inside of her head. In the end, the pressing physical need overcame her very large sense of embarrassment and anxiousness as she dialed the numbers.

"Hello?" came Arthur's voice over the phone. He seemed very awake for being dialed at 7 am.

"Arthur," Gwen croaked out, "It's me, Gwen."

"Guinevere are you okay? Do you need anything?" concern dominated Arthur's tone.

"Well-cough-I hate to be a-cough cough-bother, but are you free today? I'm really-cough-sick and I was wondering if you could-cough-help me?" Gwen barely managed to squeak out her completely mortifying request.

She closed her eyes, half praying that Arthur would merely shrug off her request with an attempt at some humor and hang up. Yet he did the opposite.

"Of course, Guinevere. I'll be right on over. Give me ten minutes."

Click. The phone had hung up. Gwen knew that it only took Arthur five minutes to get to her house since he lived in the neighborhood adjacent to hers, yet she didn't question him. She could only stare at her ceiling and wait.

Ten minutes later on the dot she heard a knock on her door, before it creaked open and shut. Thump thump thump. Heavy footsteps made her way to her door before a gentle knock and a soft, "Guinevere, it's me. Can I come in?"

"Mhm," was all Gwen could get out. She had started to doze off in the last couple of minutes.

Arthur opened the door, and was shocked at the sight of Guinevere. Normally, he knew that girls were only pretty in perfect health. Especially ones that he fancied-not that he had ever gone to look after one when she was sick (not that they would've ever let the extremely handsome Arthur Pendragon see them in such a state). Her skin was paler than normal, and sweat soaked her brow. Her hair was pinned up, but mussed from rolling around in her sleep. Her eyes had dark circles underneath them, and there was no make-up upon her eyes. Her pajamas were rather homely looking, and rumpled from use. They were matching and, due to winter, were made of flannel. They were lavender purple with darker purple hearts doting the surface making up the pattern on the long-sleeved button up shirt and comfortable bottoms. Yet Guinevere still looked miraculously beautiful to Arthur.

But something was wrong-that he was sure of-and it was probably because Guinevere was not in health, radiating happiness. Arthur was only beginning to understand that his happiness seemed to depend entirely on her well being and joy. This image just solidified this message which seemed to be constantly pressing in on his mind.

Suddenly, Gwen started hacking a deep cough which lasted for several minutes. This startled Arthur out from his reverie. He closed the door partially behind him with his foot as he proceeded forward, shaken from his thoughts about her beauty by her ugly cough. He felt an overwhelming urge to get rid of anything that could do this to her. His arms were laden with various cold remedies, tissue boxes, thermometers and other instruments. He had taken the extra five minutes to swipe everything from his medicine cabinet for the flu that he could manage to hold. He always made sure to have it well stocked for instances like this.

"Don't get beer me do much," Gwen managed to get out with her nose becoming clogged up again, "I don't want you to bit sick."

Arthur smiled, and set his things down on a dresser by the door, extracting a thermometer from the pile as he approached her bed. He gently sat down and asked,

"May I?"

Gwen merely nodded as Arthur took her temperature from under her tongue.

As they waited for the results, with Gwen's mouth preoccupied with the thermometer, and Arthur held it firmly in place, he quietly said to her, "Guinevere, I could never _not _ want to be near you."

It wasn't meant to come out sounding so romantic, yet Arthur could tell it seemed so. However, the normally observant Gwen was too focused on her current situation to notice.

As he extracted the thermometer from her mouth to read it Gwen responded with a soft, "You're a good friend, Arthur."

The thermometer read 39 degrees Celsius.

"Goodness Guinevere, you sure do have a fever! You need rest. Why don't you go back to bed, and I'll make you some tea for when you wake up, yeah? I'll leave a box of tissues here for you on the bedside table. The trash is right here," Arthur said as he moved the bin closer to her, "and I'll be right in your living room. Don't hesitate to ask for anything. I mean it. I'm here to take care of you."

He reached out his hand and slowly inched his way to her hair, and stroked the side of her face.

Gwen unconsciously leaned into his touch and offered up a faint smile as she replied, "Thank you Arthur. Feel free to make yourself at home, really."

He gave her a dazzlingly bright smile before leaving the room, seemingly grateful to be of service. As he left, Gwen settled down into a slumber rife with images of her and the blonde-haired man. They were married, and had left the city for the quieter suburbs. They had a little boy with flaxen straight hair and chocolate eyes who stood beside his parents. She held an even smaller girl who had tufts of dark curly hair and startlingly blue irises in her arms. Gwen subconsciously smiled, and snuggled deeper into sleep.

_-End Flashback-_

She had learned afterwards that Arthur had cancelled all of his appointments-which were numerous and varying degrees of important-to take care of her. And he really did take this mission to heart. When she had woken up the fever had broke, but her stomach loosened up. She had thrown up for an hour afterwards. She had sat on the bathroom floor, her head poised over the toilet, with Arthur by her side rubbing small circles on her back making gentle cooing noises. He offered up comforting words and hushed her every time the tears threatened to come forward. Tears that were forming not because of her physical illness, but because Lance had never done anything like this for her. Sure, he had taken care of her before when she was ill, but it was a much less gentle approach. He was an amazing man, but absolutely clueless when it came to caring for the ill. He had offered up soup, tea, and various boxes of tissue but ultimately stayed away from her. He agreed with her insistences of staying away when she was sick-he didn't want to contract the illness as well. He meant well, but he was nothing to Arthur. Arthur had stayed there overnight-on the couch-and stayed until she had made it through the worse. He left with a furrowed brow-he had wanted to stay until Guinevere was her old self again. Yet she had insisted that he left. She reminded him that he had other more important matters to attend to than her, and thanked him for his kindness. As he stood on her threshold, reluctantly making his way out, she practically fell over herself apologizing for inconveniencing him before he did something she didn't expect. He had gently grabbed her by her shoulders, and tilted her face up to his until their eyes locked.

That was when he had said to her in a completely serious manner, "Guinevere, there is nothing more important to me than you. You could never inconvenience me. Please don't hesitate to call me again. Even if you feel the least bit poorly."

Then he had leaned in and kissed her cheek. His lips were feather light against her skin, but it had tingled in that spot for quite some time after he had left.

Gwen snapped back to the present. Lance was still kneeling down on one leg, offering up a beautiful diamond band and looking up at her nervously, yet hopefully. He still had a shy grin on his face as he looked into her eyes expectantly. She had been silent for what felt like an eternity mulling all of this over. Yet according to the clock she nervously glanced over it had only been for a few seconds.

"Lance I-I don't know what to say," she managed to stammer out, stalling for a few more seconds.

There was quite the crowd surrounding her, watching and waiting. She wasn't sure if she could take it any longer. They were putting her on edge.

"But I-I think that I need a quick breather-excuse me," she hastily stumbled out and ran back towards the balcony. She needed the fresh air to help her clear her head and think. It was hard to think about all the conflicting feelings for Lance and Arthur in the stuffy room.

Yet when she stepped out into the cool air she saw Arthur frozen in front of her path to the railing. He was stony faced and didn't appear to register that he was blocking her path. She had forgotten that he was out there.

"Arthur!" Gwen practically cried.

Arthur blinked in response to her call and looked down at her. She was so gorgeous in her dress, but her eyes shone with unshed tears. She looked on the verge of an emotional breakdown so he did the first thing which came to his head. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. It felt so instinctual, and she fit perfectly inside of his embrace. It was as if they were made for each other.

Gwen let herself go in his arms. She started to cry as she choked out, "I can't-can't believe that he _proposed _to me! In front of all of those people! I just-I just don't know what to do!"

She buried her face deeper into Arthur's chest, and he unconsciously stroked her back. He peered into the room as he lifted his gaze from her head. If her sobs hadn't been wrenching his heart apart-he would've done anything to never hear the horrific sound again-he would've laughed at the scene in Gwen's apartment. He had dreamed of such a scenario as this, but preferably with much less tears.

The people which had surrounded her and Lance were muttering and looking away from the man who stood in the center of the circle, embarrassed and confused. He still held the box containing the band in his hands, and fiddled with the object. His eyes were downcast, and he appeared to be determined to look anywhere but outside-as did the others.

Fresh tears which began to soak his shirt brought Arthur back to the scene on the balcony.

"Guinevere, shh it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay," Arthur hushed her as he looked down at the top of her head.

He wanted to tell her that she should reject Lance and stay in his arms forever. He wanted to say that he would love her for all of eternity. He wanted to say that it was destiny which drove them into each other's lives, and that they were meant for one another. However most of all he wanted to say that he had shown her a side of him that no one else had ever or would ever see. He had never been so open or so caring with any of his past relationships. They had all been messy, shallow affairs which he preferred not to dwell on. Vivian and he had fallen apart, which he was thankful for, and Gwen could clearly see that she was no competitor for his heart. He had never gone over to a girl's apartment before just to take care of her when she was sick. Yet it felt perfectly natural to do so for Gwen-even instinctual. He felt things and did things for her that he never thought he would ever experience. She made him want to be a better person simply by her influence.

He wanted to tell himself that he was strong enough to let her go, if she did indeed choose Lance over him. Yet he couldn't bring himself to. Perhaps it was because he knew he wasn't strong enough. Or maybe it was because he was selfish, but whatever it was he knew that above everything else he wanted-no _needed_-her to be happy. For if she was happy, everything else would be okay no matter how painful.

Gwen's tears began to slow and quickly disappear. She pulled her head back from his chest and gave him an embarrassed, watery smile. She was still in his arms, he seemed determined to never let her out of them.

"Sorry," she said as she wiped her eyes on the back of her arms, "I guess I have an unfortunate habit of letting you see me always on my worst days. First being sick and now this-this emotional breakdown."

"You never have to be sorry for something like that. I'm glad that you think our relationship is strong enough to see each other at our worse. I don't ever mind being your shoulder to lean on," Arthur said.

Gwen smiled at Arthur. Her eyes seemed to convey her gratitude in a way words just couldn't. It made Arthur's heart melt. He would give anything to help her.

"I suppose I need to go back in there."

"Yes," the simple reply. Anything else hurt too much.

"But I don't know what to say." Gwen softly admitted.

"Really?" surprise laced Arthur's voice.

"Yes. I thought I loved Lance, I really did. But I have no idea. And to say yes to forever with a man you're uncertain about is quite a long time."

"Loved? What made it past," Arthur latched on to the one thing in her conversation which held hope for him.

Gwen was silent. Arthur could see in her eyes that she was struggling with an internal battle for what to tell him. In the end, he could tell that honesty won out.

"You."

Plain. Simple.

The admission of her feelings for Arthur suddenly made Gwen's chest lighten up, and the weight constricting her breathing release. She didn't realize how much that simple statement had pressed upon her mind. Now that she knew it to be true, her mind was made up.

To be continued


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Arthur was in a dazed state. _You. _He had no idea that such a small word could make him feel so much. He barely registered his surroundings-his thoughts were completely consumed with the idea that Guinevere and he could become something more than friends. He felt a small pressure against his arms which brought him back to reality, and he realized that Guinevere was gently asking him to release her. He quickly complied, and gave her a tentative smile. He still wasn't sure what Gwen had meant by that simple word. Sure, he had changed her feelings about Lance, but she didn't exactly imply that she was as enamored with him as he was of her. It only stated that he was making her feel…something. 'Most likely confused' he thought. Arthur prayed that she wouldn't reject the idea of going on a date with him, eventually becoming his girlfriend, and maybe even getting married. He knew he was assuming too many things all at once, but he couldn't help it as the sudden panic gripped him. What if she didn't want the same things he did? But instead, just didn't want to marry Lance and move on with her life? What if he lost her forever-what if it was to _Merlin_? He and she _did _spend an awful lot of time together…

He shook his head. He was getting preposterous-Merlin would never be able to obtain a girl like Guinevere.

"Are-are you serious Guinevere?" was what Arthur managed to choke out.

"Yes. Yes I am. In fact, if there's anything I've realized in the past few days, it's that this is one thing I am certain of," she flashed a brief smile before worry lines took over. There was a crease on her brow, and her mouth turned downwards, "But before we continue this conversation, I think I need to go back inside and sort some things out."

'Ah. So that's why she was gently asking to leave.' Arthur's common sense had finally caught up with his logic. He had already released her, but his brain was still trying to process everything.

"Yes, I suppose you should. Do you want me to come with you? Or wait here?" he inquired.

"It is up to you," she replied, "But I think it best that you remain out of sight until I can explain everything properly to Lance."

"Of course," Arthur quickly said. Whatever she wanted he was going to instantly agree. She already had him like putty in her hands, but with the promise of continuing _this _conversation he definitely wasn't going to refuse.

"My lady," he took her hand, and brushed his lips against the back of it, causing Gwen to smile at his silliness. However, the look in his eyes told her that he wasn't only kidding.

He watched her walk away, back through the sliding glass doors, and waited for her return.

….

Gwen took a deep breath before entering her apartment again. She knew that the atmosphere in the room would be extremely tense, and anticipating her response. 'Hopefully they won't hate me too much,' she thought, 'how ironic that this had to happen at _my _ house and _my _ Christmas party.'

When she entered the room the circle immediately closed up again behind her, leaving only a gap at the sliding glass door which Arthur could peer through. Lance was once again in the middle of the circle. He held the box loosely at his side, and just looked at her. Gwen knew that look. It was the look of a man who was stealing himself against the worst, but hoping for the best. It was the look that Arthur had apparently given her moments before.

She took a deep breath, and briefly took the time to reflect upon her decision. She knew that if it weren't for Arthur she wouldn't be able to have the strength to face this situation. He brought out the woman that she could be-he unlocked her potential. But technically, if she had never known Arthur, she wouldn't have ever had any doubts like she did now. She would've been blissfully happy with Lance. But it was also true that without Arthur she wouldn't have become the person she was today. The person who would not be happy spending the rest of their life with Lance. True, she and Arthur had only known each other for a month, but what a month! They were constantly together, and Gwen still smiled when she thought about how easily it had been to make the transition from poor stuttering Gwen to confident, lovely Guinevere. Arthur had brought that out in her. She believed that with her whole heart. Her mother used to say that a soulmate was someone who brought out the better person in you, and they made you want to change-to realize your potential. Not because they forced you to, but because they inspired you, and you inspired them. They were your best friend-the person you could count on to understand you and be there for you through the lowest of lows and highest of highs. Gwen didn't want to dwell too long on how accurately Arthur fit the description and Lance…didn't-anymore that is. For if she did, it made her heart ache and her head spin at how perfect Arthur seemed to truly be for her, and how painful it was to acknowledge it wasn't Lance.

She understood that she had changed as a person, thanks to Arthur's influence, and that she and Lance wanted different things now. They were different people. The divide was hardly subtle. They could still joke around, sure, but it was different from before. They both knew it-there was a palpable feeling of it in the air-but neither wished to confront the issue head on. Gwen was no longer "just Gwen"-the "just Gwen" she would've stayed like if it wasn't for the catalyst of Arthur. The "just Gwen" who would've lived happily ever after with Lance. Ultimately, Gwen was happy that she had begun the journey of living up to her regal name. It felt like she was starting to fulfill her Destiny. She had a link with Arthur that no one understood but him. Yet despite Gwen's connection with Arthur, it wasn't easy letting go of Lance. He was the most serious relationship she had ever been it-and one of the longest. He had been the first man to tell her that he loved her. He was the first person Elyan had ever approved of. He was the man every girl dreamed of bringing home. There was a piece of her heart that would always belong to Lance, but in a different way now. And there would always be a special connection and special moments that no one would ever be able to understand or experience but the other. It was hard to let go. Furthermore, she never wanted to hurt anyone, and it would've broken her heart if she thought he felt that he was leading her on.

And how were the dynamics of her and Lance going to change? They had a lot of the same friends, and Gwen wasn't particularly anxious to lose any of them. Yet she would be portrayed as the villain in the situation of their break-up. Also, Elyan and Lance were best mates-how awkward would that be to still have your brother best friends with your ex? Would it be difficult for both to move past everything? Gwen wouldn't be able to sleep well at night knowing that she was the one to cause her brother to lose one of his best friends.

But her heart, Arthur, was the one who continued to give her the strength to move forward. The only one who could've helped her say the two letter word which would effectively end one chapter of all of their lives, and begin a new one.

"No."

...

"I'm sorry Lance, I really am."

Lance heard these words as if at the end of a tunnel. They were distant, and echo-y. The room had fallen very quiet. Everyone looked anywhere but the middle of the circle. What was once a swinging, be-bopin party (which had anticipated more celebrating, after all Lance and Gwen were perfect for each other, weren't they?) seemed to instantly change to a sober event. Gwaine, always trying to help, was the first one to attempt to break the ice.

"Well…the pub down the way is still open. I say last one there has to buy a round!"

And with that, he grabbed Percival and Elyan gruffly by the shoulders and forged his way to the door. Taking up Gwaine's lead, the party soon emptied of everyone but Lance, Gwen, and Arthur (who was still outside, he wasn't sure whether or not to go in). Merlin lingered briefly, wondering if he would be needed. However, the particular scene didn't seem to need his help, and besides that he had other places to be before Christmas Eve was over.

"Lance?" Gwen quietly asked. She was afraid of Lance's silence. He was already a man who kept mostly to himself, but he had never shut off completely like this before.

"This…was unexpected," was the only response that he could get out.

Lance was trying to process everything that had happened. He had not expected Gwen's refusal. Something had been slightly off about her the past month. He wasn't blind to her subtle changes. She was still the Gwen he knew-sweet, compassionate, humble. Yet there was also a confident young woman who demanded more out of life. She was to be respected, admired, and wise. Lance saw glimpses of her in the courtroom, when he could attend her trials, but that was only when she appeared. He had privately called it "Courtroom Gwen" in his head, but now he isn't sure if it was that, or it was always who she was.

Of course, he had been slightly off the past month as well. Ever since meeting Vivian at the gala spending time with Gwen didn't seem quite as…enjoyable…as before. However, he had pushed aside these feelings to focus on his much stronger ones for Gwen. He wasn't an idiot-Guinevere Leodegrance was the best girlfriend he had ever had. She was modest, smart, kind, and a great cook. She laughed at all the same things he did, and she came from a good, respectable family. They had a mutual trust and respect that he honestly believed true love could be built upon. He thought they _had _built upon it together. 'I guess not' he glumly acknowledged in his head.

"It's kind of unexpected for me to. But I-I've changed," Gwen started to say, slowly gathering confidence in her words, "If I was still the person I was when we met-everything would be different. I think that we would be perfect for each other. But I met someone. Someone who's slowly begun to change me. And now I'm in the middle of it before I even knew I had begun! Oh Lance, I'm so sorry. I don't ever want you to feel like I was leading you on. Because I really wasn't. I loved you with all of my heart. I still do, but not in that way. And…it's scary. For me. To not choose you-and sad. Because you're an amazing man. A man who I never dreamed of ever having the privilege to date. You're like-like the perfect boyfriend. The man on the street who every woman wants, but then finds out he already has someone. It was hard for me to realize that _I _was the someone who had you when we first started dating. Even now it's hard for me to realize that. But I know that if I accept your offer, now, it would be unfair to both of us. For me because I now realize that I couldn't truly love you like I used to. Not now, after I've changed. And for you because you deserve much better than that. You deserve a woman who loves you for you, and you both are completely happy with each other. I just hope that you'll forgive me someday for this moment."

Then she slowly, hesitantly, leaned forward on her tiptoes and brushed a soft, chaste kiss to his cheek. The light pressure awakened his reflexes and he jerked back instantly. He didn't want her pity. He wanted her very large, compassionate heart for his own. But apparently she had met "someone else". Someone who had changed his sweet Gwen into this fierce woman.

He slowly backed away from Gwen. It now felt wrong and awkward to be in her apartment with her. He wondered if things would ever have a sense of normalcy to them again. He turned around and started to the door. The space felt all-too-small now that the rejection had been made. His neck was burning up with his embarrassment. She continued to follow him to the door, and stood by him, watching him turn the handle.

"Just-just tell me one thing," Lance said, turning to face her, the door slightly ajar, "Who is this someone who changed you?"

"Arthur Pendragon," Gwen said softly, her eyes meeting his. They were full of sadness, but there was something else there as well. When she said his name a spark lit behind her chocolate orbs that Lance had seen when they were first together. But it had been dead from her eyes the past few weeks.

"And did-did you-you know…while we were dating?" Lance wasn't sure he wanted to know. The words came out haltingly, against his will, however and surfaced. Even though he knew that Gwen would probably never do something like that. Heck, she had insisted that they didn't because she was waiting for her wedding night.

"No!" Gwen's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide and horrified, "I could never do that to you Lance. I can't believe you would even think I would!

"Arthur," her eyes lit up again at his name, "and I are only friends."

At least that was what she thought. She had very confusing feelings towards the man. Some days she would catch herself thinking about him, and how he would react in a situation. She was slowly beginning to use him as a model for how she based her decisions. Other days she just thought of him as a good man-but for someone else. 'Perhaps Vivian' she thought hollowly-even though Arthur assured Gwen that there was nothing going on between them.

Lance laughed humorlessly at her remark. Now that she had said his name he thought back to all the times she was with Arthur. Instead of being with Lance as she usually was in her free time, she had decided to be with Arthur. Lance tagged along once or twice for their outings, Gwen was never trying to exclude him, but he felt something drop in the pit of his stomach every time he saw them together. Now he knew why.

_-Flashback-_

A week ago:

The gala had taken place two weeks ago. During the space of those weeks Lance and Gwen had been pushed in pulled in many different directions. Gwen had a hard case she was working on. Every day that she had been the first to arrive in the office and the last to leave. She had gotten several calls from Arthur about when she would be free, and if she would like to join him in an outing. She had never actually given him her number, but she supposed he wrangled it out of Merlin. The man was pretty persistent and stubborn when he wanted to be. Merlin never stood a chance in Gwen's mind.

Originally, she wanted to say no. She was finally going to get a little free time to herself after work, and she was looking forward to either some quiet reading time or being with Lance. She had already been hanging out with Arthur several times prior to his calls. Yet when she heard the honest, unsure timbre of his voice drift over the lines and settle into her ear her resolve melted. He sounded so exposed that she couldn't disappoint him. Every time she was with Arthur something changed inside of her and left her with an unsettling feeling. Firstly, it felt like she was betraying Lance to go be with Arthur (she had never exactly told Lance where she was going). And secondly, Arthur continuously challenged her, and shook her to her core. She always left their outings together with a different perspective of the world that wasn't entirely unwelcome. He left her a better person.

Now that she was officially going on _another_ excursion with Arthur, she couldn't be with Lance later that day. Not that he would ever had to know. He never fully did. She never exactly lied to him, she had always told him she was with Arthur, but he never saw them interact together. Gwen didn't want to stir up trouble, although she already knew she was. Whenever Arthur's name was mentioned Lance tensed up. Yet he never doubted her faithfulness to him.

However, as soon as Gwen agreed to go with Arthur, Lance had called her.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Gwen! How's work going?" Lance asked.

"Great. I finally finished off the bulk of the 'heavy lifting' for the case, if you will. I finally have some time to myself!"

"Excellent! Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to go out tonight. There's a new restaurant that's opened up just a little ways down from the office and I wanted to know if you'd like to try it out. We haven't been on a date together for ages."

"Oh…um I'm sorry Lance. I actually _just_ made plans for tonight before you called."

"With who?"

"Um…Arthur Pendragon," Gwen squeaked out. She put her palm to her forehead. Lance was not going to date another ditched date together for Arthur well.  
>"Arthur Pendragon? Really? Gwen, wasn't he the reason we couldn't go on our date last week?" Lance inquired, slightly irritated. He was never outright angry with her, but she could tell he was displeased.<p>

"Well, yeah…but listen. It's nothing! Honest! We're just going over to the bistro on 33nd street and grab some dinner. You can come if you want! Yeah, how about you come with us?"

Internally, Gwen groaned. She knew this would be a very bad idea, but she never wanted to exclude Lance. 'My boyfriend,' she thought.

Lance thought about this. It wouldn't be so bad to go and see them interact together. At the very least to assuage his fears. On top of it, although he and Arthur were politically enemies, Arthur always treated him with respect. That was particularly seen at the gala together.

"Yeah sure, why not?" Lance's tone warmed up, "Sounds like a great idea."

….

Gwen's tinkling laugh drifted over the table to Lance's ears. They had been seated at a table in the window of the small bistro. It was a quaint place, not romantic but not unwelcoming in appearance. Arthur and Gwen sat opposite each other, and Lance sat by Gwen. The fourth seat remained unoccupied, although Lance couldn't help but wish it wasn't. At least then he would have someone to talk to.

Gwen and Arthur had been non-stop chattering since they had arrived. Initially, Arthur's face showed a slight displeasure at Lance for tagging along, but he quickly dispelled it when he looked at Gwen's hopeful eyes. Lance didn't miss the exchanged look between them. If anything, it felt like he was intruding on a private exchange between the two. Which was wrong, since he was the one dating Gwen.

The entire time at the table Gwen and Arthur seemed to connect like he and she never did. They were laughing and talking as if they had known each other for their whole lives-not three weeks. Until, apparently, their lives had always been loosely connected.

Arthur had been telling Gwen of various tales of his childhood. Some of them seemed to be rather elaborated on, but Lance didn't question him in front of Gwen. He knew that would only upset her.

"…so Leon-he's an old family friend-and I were going up to Glasgow when-" Arthur was interrupted by Gwen.

"Leon? As in…Leon Wyatt? The personal guard to the royal family Leon Wyatt?"

"Yeah-how'd you know?" Arthur inquired.

Here, Gwen blushed and said, "My mother….she and Leon's mum were really great friends. They worked in the same clothing store. Leon's one of my oldest friends."

"Wait a second…" Arthur's mind had just put two and two together except that it couldn't possibly be-but it was!

"Are _you _the girl that Leon went on and on about when we were kids? Gwenny! That's what he called you!" Arthur pronounced.

Gwen went a deeper shade of scarlet, and laughed. Her and Arthur's hands were resting side by side on the table top and she pushed at his in a jesting manner in an attempt to knock it off the table.

"Well, _yes. _I suppose you could say I was. Although I don't go by that name anymore-not ever! It's only reserved for Leon to use."

"I can't believe that you two were friends! Leon was very possessive of you, let me say that! I'd always ask to be introduced to you, but he said that my antics would scare you off. And he didn't want that! He was completely enamoured of you when we were teens! Although, since he never proved that you existed to me, I always thought that he was making you up."

Gwen laughed again, "Oh no no. Well, I had heard about you-not exactly you. You as a boy named "Art". But I was never invited to meet you by Leon. I always wondered why. Now I know!"

They exchanged a look of awe between each other. To be so close all their lives, but so far was insane. Through Leon and his stories they really had grown up together-but so far apart.

Lance didn't miss a thing between them, and attempted to steer the conversation out of these uncomfortable waters. It felt like the further they went down that path together the more they would forget his presence. His interruption caused Gwen to look uncomfortable for a brief moment, but then she happily went along with his line of conversation. Yet even as the dinner progressed and Lance was developing a grudging respect and admiration for Arthur, he couldn't help but feel threatened. And the odd feeling in his stomach didn't depart.

_-End Flashback-_

It hadn't been a good idea. He saw that now. He had seen it then. He didn't want to see them mingle together any more than necessary for this reason. The reason that he always knew in his heart he would lose Gwen to Arthur. He had seen it since the first night he saw them interact at the gala. There was just something about Gwen's reaction to Arthur that had made him see it. But he hadn't given up hope that she would still say yes to his proposal. It could've just been a passing fancy in the blonde haired man. Alas, it was apparently all a disillusioned dream.

Yet he couldn't bring himself to be mad with Gwen. She was right in saying that it would be unfair to both of them if she had accepted. But right now he didn't want to hear that. Right now he wanted to follow the party to the bar and drink away his problems-if only for a little bit.

"I know you couldn't Gwen, but I just had to know. You understand, right? And look, thank you for being honest with me. I guess I believe you if you say that you and Arthur didn't do anything together. But right now, I just can't handle all of this. So goodbye."

Lance realized it was a rather unceremonious way to bid her goodnight, but the frustration, embarrassment, and anger were building up in his mind at Gwen's rejection. He knew that if he stayed any longer he would say things that he would regret later-especially since when they were dating they had never actually had a _real _row. He yanked the door open further, and briskly stepped out onto the threshold and into the night. He didn't look back once at Gwen.

To be continued


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Arthur quietly stepped through the glass door once he saw Lance leave. He saw Guinevere's lone form still standing by the door which closed in her face. Her shoulders were heaving up and down up and down. Arthur took a moment to stare at them. He didn't know if he could handle seeing Gwen's face-no doubt heartbroken. He would want to gather her up in his arms and never let her go. And he wasn't sure if she would be okay with that yet-or ever.

Although Arthur was deliriously happy that Gwen had turned down Lance, he couldn't deny that a part of her heart would always belong to him. He and she were serious enough to almost get married after all! He was just lucky to intervene at the time he did. If he hadn't…well…he didn't really want to think about it.

He approached her softly, treading as lightly as he could and put a hand on her shoulder tentatively saying, "Guinevere?"

She turned around at the sound of her name and looked up at Arthur. He was so large in comparison to her small body, and standing so close, that he was like a solid wall in front of her. All she could see in front of her was his deep scarlet button up framed by his gray blazer. However, she kept her eyes downcast, staring at her silver heels which were still glinting in the light of the lamps. He had seen her weak so many times already. The first time being when she was sick, and second to have a breakdown after Lance's proposal. She didn't need him to see her have another one so quickly. She was supposed to be the strong one, after all. She was supposed to be the rock for him, not the other way around. That's how she preferred most of her friendships. She could recall the times she was there for Lance, Elyan, and Merlin.

_-Flashback-_

Two years ago:

Lance had just got off the phone. He and Gwen were at his apartment celebrating their first three months together as a couple. Nothing too fancy, as Gwen thought that month-a-versary celebrations were frivolous, however, Lance still wanted to make the evening special for Gwen. He had presented her with a dozen red roses in honor of their landmark, and presented her with a gentle kiss at the door. Winding his arm around his girlfriend, he led her over to the sofa in his considerably sized apartment. Lance was into politics, but he didn't live like most people would have on the finances he made. He was a man of simple comforts, and lived humbly. His living room was decorated in earth tones, and tastefully done. A large window streamed the fading sunlight into the kitchen which was open and adjacent to the living room.

Lance had picked a romantic movie (No Reservations) to watch with Gwen. He wanted something light-hearted and fun, but still romantic enough to qualify it as a day of romance for the both of them. He had just put it in, and had settled down on the couch. His arm was around Gwen, and they were both getting situated. Gwen leaned slightly more into his hold, and Lance curled his hand around her shoulder. However, just as they had gotten settled and pushed play Lance's phone went off.

He grumbled about letting it be, but Gwen had piped up, "You should at least see who's calling."

He looked down at the caller ID: Maria.

Concern and confusion became etched on his brow as he rose, and said, "Excuse me, but I think I have to take this."

Now he had just come back. His face was a perfect relief of despair.

Gwen had immediately picked up on the sudden change in the atmosphere. It was now somber, and the mood was effectively killed. He approached the couch, and slowly sat down a little bit away from Gwen-as if he had forgotten she was there.

"Lance, what is it?" Gwen tentatively asked.

She scooted closer to him and put her arm on his shoulder. Lance sighed, and turned around to face her.

"It-it's my sister. Maria." Lance whispered.

"Your sister?" Gwen asked hesitantly.

As far as she knew, Lance and Maria were not precisely on speaking terms since she had decided to run away to America with a man Lance did not approve of. They hadn't spoken to each other in over five years.

"Well, the caller ID said Maria, but it wasn't her. It was-him."

"Oh. Where is Maria?" Gwen inquired gently, but curiously. She knew that whatever was troubling him, it would soothe his soul to release the pressure of whatever was disturbing him.

"She-she's…dead." Lance sobbed out the last word.

His shoulders slumped forward, and he buried his face in his hands. Gwen knew that despite their feud, Lance always felt guilty for driving his sister away. Now, there could be no redemption for his actions. She edged closer to Lance, her compassionate side kicking into over drive.

"Oh dear. Lance, come here," Gwen insisted as she wrapped her arms around Lance.

They were both on the couch, movie paused and completely forgotten, with Gwen holding Lance in her arms. She rubbed his back, and made comforting noises as he sobbed into her hair.

"Oh Gwen, I'm-I'm so sorry that I'm ruining-I'm supposed to be the strong-" Lance tried to start, but Gwen shushed him.

"Lance, it's ok. The fact that you trust me enough to be here with you is the best way I know to confirm the strength of our relationship. It's just unfortunate that it had to be under such awful circumstances. But right now, don't apologize. Don't worry. Just let it out."

So they sat for a few hours. Eventually, Lance started to fall asleep.

"I love you," Lance mumbled before drifting off completely.

Gwen was touched-it was the first time one of them had said "I love you". She held him even tighter as she responded, "I love you too."

One year ago:

Gwen and Elyan were standing face to face in the kitchen of their small apartment. It was in the cheaper district, but not uncomfortable. They had just thought that things were looking up financially for them-they might be able to afford to move out of the neighborhood-but not anymore.

"Elyan, Elyan calm down!" Gwen implored her brother.

"Gwen, HOW CAN I CALM DOWN WHEN I HAVE JUST LOST MY JOB?" Elyan shouted.

Gwen looked stricken. Her brother, no matter how angry or frustrated, never raised his voice at her.

"Oh Gwen-crap-I'm-I'm sorry. I just-I am just really frustrated right now." Elyan quickly backtracked.

"No," Gwen took a deep breath, calming herself down. She was more than saddened by Elyan's reaction to his situation-she was angry. However, she forced it down and continued, "I understand that you're upset. But just-just try to calm down, yeah? For me."

Elyan's angry resolve quickly broke at the look of sincerity on his sister's face, "Yeah-al-alright. It's just-I've been in the wielding and auto mechanic industry for years. I've worked _there _for years. And they just fire me out of the blue-now? How…why…" Elyan drifted off. He didn't shed a tear, but his eyes were glistening.

"Oh Elyan," Gwen said softly, and quickly closed the space separating their bodies. She wrapper her arms around her brother in a comforting embrace, and they both stood there hugging each other for a long while.

"Who cares about what they think," Gwen said into his ear, "You're the best mechanic I know. You're smart, and clever with your hands. You're always coming up with better, easier, and more affordable ways to solve all of your customer's problems-and people respect and appreciate that. And you know what else? You know that we Leodegrances always bounce back, no matter what."

Gwen slightly broke away from their fierce hug just so that Elyan could see the proud smile which graced his sister's face.

"Thanks," was all Elyan could say.

One week ago:

Merlin was gone. A simple note that said, "Went out. Be back soon" was taped to the front of the door. Gwen hesitated. She had visited the large mansion to see if Merlin wanted to go out for a coffee or something, since Arthur and Lance were away doing an interview. Merlin was surprisingly away from it all that day, and Gwen had inquired Arthur about it. He had merely said that he might be able to be found at the house, but apparently, he was wrong.

'Now what?' Gwen thought. She supposed there was nothing for it, but to go walk around for a bit. It was her lunch break, so she had some time to kill before heading back to the office.

She wandered around London, wondering what to do until somehow she ended up at Battersea Park. She wasn't exactly sure how she ended up there, but she did. And right in front of her was a lake, by which was sitting a young man with raven hair and a skinny frame. His back was facing Gwen, and it looked like his head was bent.

"Merlin!" Gwen cried, hurrying forward.

Merlin spun around, "I'll call you back later," he hurriedly said and hastily put his phone away, attempting to hide it from Gwen. His eyes were mysteriously clouded over, and although the atmosphere was slightly awkward, his face gave away none of his emotions. He looked like he had steely resolve, but at the same time, he looked deeply saddened. Gwen was smart enough to see that she had clearly interrupted something that Merlin did not want discovered, so she quickly hid the fact that she had seen his brief slip-up.

"Gwen!" Merlin forced a smile, "Fancy seeing you here!"

"I know! I didn't expect to see you here either! I saw your note," Gwen referenced, putting on a falsely cheery voice to fool Merlin.

"Oh yeah? Well…here I am, I guess," Merlin vaguely responded, "So what are you up to?"

Gwen noticed his sudden change of subject, but didn't bother him about whatever it was. They weren't good enough friends yet for her to take the liberty of prodding, she figured, so she did the next best thing she could think of. So she sat there with him, and took his mind off whatever was troubling him with conversation. Soon, it appeared like Merlin's problems were forgotten, and his laughter came as easily as ever. They sat there together until Gwen regretfully had to go back to work, and Merlin had insisted walking her back.

As they neared the door of her office, Merlin stopped and turned to face her. They stood awkwardly before the front of the office. Merlin's eyes were downcast as he quietly said, "Thank you."

Gwen just smiled and nodded, pleased that she had correctly chosen what Merlin had needed.

"Anytime," she said softly before kissing Merlin on the cheek and turning away, went into the building.

_-End Flashback-_

"I'm not supposed to be this weak. I'm a supposed to be one of the calmest, coolest, collected, yet compassionate lawyers in the country," Gwen gave a watery chuckle.

Arthur quirked his head at her and smiled gently.

"You may be all of those things, Guinevere," Arthur said as he tilted her head up towards his, "But that doesn't mean that the best lawyer in England can't cry now and again."

And with that, Arthur gathered her up in his arms, and stroked her back tenderly. They stood there for a while, him holding her, and her relying on him.

In an amount of time Gwen couldn't decipher (had it been only minutes? Or hours since they had last uttered a word?), Arthur silently scooped her up in his arms, and walked back to her living room.

There, he plopped her down on the comfortable cushions, and soon settled in beside her, wrapping his arm instinctively, protectively, around her body. He could tell that she was fading fast-her chest was rising and falling in a much more even rhythm, and the crease in her brow had released. With that, he brushed his lips upon her forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Guinevere," he murmured, leaning back on the couch and closing his eyes too.

And so there, on her couch on Christmas Eve, Arthur held Guinevere tenderly, as if she was the most delicate gem in the world.

….

Meanwhile Gwaine and Lance were drinking the night away together. Lance was attempting to drown his troubles in the dull glow the alcohol provided, and it was just like a normal evening for Gwaine. It was very uncharacteristic of Lance to perform such an act, but no one questioned his motives tonight. The ruckus brought with the joys of the drinks was beginning to grab the group that was previously in Gwen's living room. Ridiculous claims were made by Percival, and Elyan and Gwaine had their arms around each other singing a ballad about a lost love. Lance was still at the bar, ordering what had to be more than his fourth round of shots. Amongst all of this chaos, no one saw Merlin quietly slip out. Not a drop of alcohol had touched his lips.

To be continued

Note: Sorry this took so long. I had supreme writer's block for this chapter (it was tricky to figure out how to transition to where this journey's going)! And I'm not sure how happy I am with it. I also just had a wealth of Merlin/Freya inspiration these past few weeks! But I haven't given up on this story (never fear)! And don't think that because Gwen's single, and in Arthur's arms, it means that the story's over! Arthur and Gwen haven't even been on a proper date yet, and she's still confused over her feelings for him anyways. Also, poor Lance! What will become of him? And who's going to win the election? We're not even halfway there folks!


	13. Chapter 13

Note: I'm sorry that this took so long to publish! I've been sick recently, so I've had a lot of schoolwork to catch up on. Unfortunately this had to go on the backburner for a bit, but finally here it is!

Chapter 13

And so December trudged on, and the New Year snuck up on everyone once again. It was Merlin's birthday on New Year's Day, and normally he and Arthur threw a combination birthday/New Year celebration at their house. However, this year was greeted in a much more somber in attitude by all.

Gwen, recently being broken up with Lance, was still recovering from their break-up. She was mainly coping by ignoring the problem, and volunteering anywhere one was needed at hospitals, primary schools, and homeless shelters. She was also diving head first into a particularly difficult case which Mr. Jarban had assigned to her upon her request. It was to take place in May, and she only had five months to prepare for it. Needless to say, Gwen was quite busy. Too busy to focus on the destruction of her longest and most serious relationship she'd ever had due to the fact that she met Arthur. Never mind the fact that she was still very confused about how she felt towards him. Due to this fact, however, she decided that time away from Arthur for a little bit was the best for all involved. After waking up in his arms on Christmas Day, she decided that she couldn't handle being in his presence for the time being, and courteously, albeit awkwardly, showed him out.

Because of this, Arthur was in a rather melancholy mood. He was forbidden to see Gwen for two weeks, and it was enough to drive anyone mad. He was constantly worried about her, and inquired about her well-being from anyone who was remotely associated with her. Merlin was frustratingly ignorant of her current state, although Arthur couldn't figure out why. He regularly disappeared for hours now, and when he _did _come home, either locked himself in his studio for hours or passed out. 'It was odd', Arthur thought, 'Where on earth _does_ Merlin go in his spare time?' He had forgotten that Merlin was not his personal assistant so many times due to the man's constant presence in Arthur's life, and his appearance at most of the public functions Arthur had to attend. Yet, reality had smacked the young Pendragon full in the face, and Arthur had to hire a new assistant. George was his name-apparently he had all of the credentials (and many more) needed for the job. However, his company was so dull that Arthur frequently wished to spend as little time as possible with him.

Meanwhile, Lance was busying himself in other ways. Like Gwen, he preferred not to confront his problems face on. Rather, he busied himself as much as possible with campaign duties. He threw all of his energy into making sure everything was lined up for his win in May.

However, he needn't have worried. The press, if possible, favored Lance even more after his break-up with Gwen. The tabloids immediately swarmed on both him and her about the fallout of their relationship, but neither wished to comment. As a result the sympathy from many corners of Britain (admittedly, many of the sympathizers were female), and Lance surged ahead in the polls at the beginning of New Year's.

Thus, New Year's Day came about. As Lance charged ahead with a 3% lead over Arthur, Gwen was volunteering at a local children's hospital, attempting to put them all in good spirit about the upcoming year. Meanwhile, Arthur was despondently out in a bar with Leon, Merlin once again disappearing somewhere he wasn't privy to. 'Wherever that man is,' he thought, 'I hope that he's feeling better than me.'

….

January trudged on by, and to the relief of everyone February had dawned on them.

It was the first weekend in February, and Arthur had not seen Gwen in almost a month. He had agreed to give her space, and so it was. He had been putting extra efforts into his own campaign in retaliation to the extra amount of compassion Lance was receiving. The work was tedious, and Arthur was annoyed that he had to go to extra lengths to once again gain the lead. However, he couldn't quite muster up complete irritation knowing that the reason behind it left a very single and available Guinevere.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Arthur's caller ID flashed before him: Guinevere.

He answered it immediately, "Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Pendragon?" her sweet voice came through the line.

Arthur groaned inwardly. Apparently they had gotten back to square one in which Guinevere decided to address him formally. It had taken him ages to get her comfortable with saying his first name, but it was worth it. When it danced on her tongue it somehow sounded better-more regal.

"You know you can call me Arthur, Guinevere," he responded

"I would prefer it if I addressed you as Mr. Pendragon."

"Very well, what can I do for you?"

"I'm working with a particular case of a sensitive issue that I need your assistance on, if it's not too much trouble. I hate to bother you, but it really can't be anyone else."

Her tone was formal, colder towards him. It felt wrong. Arthur wondered where that compassionate, warm, loving Guinevere from a few months ago had went. He was curious where that broken-hearted angel had flown off to.

"Of course, no bother at all. You should know that you can ask me for anything. I'm not free until tomorrow, though. Does a particular time work best for you?" he inquired politely.

"Actually, if it's not too inconvenient, I hope that you can come at 7 o'clock sharp. It may be an all day event, you understand."

"That sounds great to me," Arthur responded. However, he couldn't help but add, "I look forward to it, Guinevere."

….

The dial tone was still in her ear, and his parting words echoed around in her head, "I look forward to it, Guinevere."

She had done her best to adopt a cold demeanor towards him. She had not talked to him in months, and it was secretly driving her mad. There was just something about him that Lance never had. Of course, once she thought about that she would feel guilty about breaking Lance's heart all over again. It was a vicious cycle. She analyzed the situation from all the angles she could possibly think of-broke everything down into the smallest pieces-before reconstructing everything and beginning the process all over again. As far as she could tell, the facts were these: 1) She had been dating Lance happily for two years. 2) She had thought it was true love. They both respected each other deeply, and were very compatible. They were both very self-less, and agreed on a lot of the same morals. 3) She had met Arthur Pendragon while she had been in a relationship with Lance in November. 4) Within the course of a month her life had been turned completely upside down. 5) Because of Arthur she had said no to a proposal from a man she would've sworn was her true love. 6) She was very confused about her feelings towards Arthur.

Making lists had helped Gwen breathe a little easier, but not much. It still amazed her that it only took a month for Arthur to change her life completely. She took a mental inventory of how their relationship had progressed.

_-Flashback-_

November-First Week of Meeting Arthur

Arthur was too handsome for his own good. Within the first few hours of seeing him, her dreams were consumed with images of him burned underneath her lids. She assumed it was just appreciation for his good looks, however, and nothing more. After the initial awkward meeting between herself and Arthur on the tube (and the subsequent walk to the intersection of their two neighborhoods), Gwen sincerely hoped never to see him again. She wasn't sure she could stand something more mortifying-yet strangely wonderful-again.

However, fate was not kind to her. Indeed, the very next day after meeting him she was supposed to escort Lance to a debate against Arthur. It was strange that she had never met him before, but then again why would Lance want her to meet his opponent? During the debate she noticed how the media's rather scandalous reports of Arthur may have been slightly tilted. He had been courteous to her on the tube, which the media said he wasn't (courteous or into taking the tube). He was also sharp, and seemed to be a perfectly lovely guy. She wasn't even sure what Lance was saying, as she focused all of her attention to the man Arthur really was. Despite their awkward meeting, she had a feeling that Arthur was a good man-and that the media were living in the past.

Yet she was proven wrong before her misgivings had even come to full fruition. As the event came to an end, so did Gwen's hopes that he wasn't a completely terrible person. For before she could leave she caught him snogging the blonde girl rather fiercely in the relative privacy behind the stage. She wanted the day to come to an end-hopefully one which didn't involve the golden haired man. But Merlin had other plans. By inviting her to lunch with him, she had happily agreed (hoping to take her mind off Arthur). Merlin seemed like a nice enough guy, and she looked forward to get to know him. At the restaurant, though, Arthur appeared again. However, Gwen found that as much as she tried to hate him, his easy nature and disarming compassion caught her off guard. 'And technically,' she thought, 'we're not even together so it doesn't matter who he kisses.' She left the restaurant feeling even more confused about the man then before.

To round off her first week of knowing him, she attended Merlin's art gala-which was amazing. Merlin's art really was a thing of beauty. She understood why he was such a world renowned artist. And everyone there was perfectly lovely and friendly. Arthur looked particularly dashing. His golden hair gleamed in the lighting, and his diamond cufflinks did not go unnoticed by herself. He, in short, looked absolutely amazing-he cleaned up very nicely. She was actually beginning to regret-almost-bringing Lance. He looked handsome enough, but Arthur was something else. Gwen chalked it up to simply being used to seeing her man looking like her own prince charming. But deep down she knew that something was different. The evening was spent in fantastic conversation with the blue-eyed man, who once again proved his reputation wrong. By the end of the night Gwen saw why he was so far winning the election, despite the press' penchant for reporting negative things about the young Pendragon.

November/December-Second Week of Knowing Arthur

The beginning of the week had started off well. She had gotten a few texts from Arthur, and they quickly became texting friends. It still amazed her how much they had in common. They usually went something along these lines:

HEY :) –Pendragon

HEY :) –Gwen

HOW R U? –Pendragon

FINE THX. AND U? –Gwen

GREAT. WHATS NEW? –Pendragon

And then she would begin telling Arthur was indeed was "new". It was nice to know that there was someone every morning who would ask how she was doing. It wasn't like Lance never did that, but it was different with Arthur. He didn't mind "wasting his day away", so to speak, by talking with her.

However, by the end of the week Gwen had fallen ill. It had pained her to call Arthur to help her back on her feet, but she really had no choice. She was amazed to learn his prowess at taking care of people who were sick. When she felt better, she profusely thanked Arthur as he went on his way out the door. She had thought that would be the end of it. However, he did not stop texting her every half hour to check-up on her, see if she was feeling worse, etc. When she was little, she had always promised herself that one thing her husband HAD to have was the ability to take care of the sick, or infirm. Lance was an amazing man, but he most definitely did not have that skill.

December-Third Week of Knowing Arthur

Since the luncheon the very first week they had met, Arthur had been trying to get Gwen to call him by his first name. Yet she still maintained the belief that it was more respectful to go along with titles, and had a difficult time calling him "Arthur". She had used it several times before, but only on special occasions (and one of them she was practically delirious when she had said it). Yet by the second week of December, it was official. No longer could she pretend that he was only "Mr. Pendragon, opponent of Lance in the Prime Minister elections". Instead, he was "Arthur", the man who was quickly becoming one of the best friends she had ever had.

She and Arthur were able to hang out together a few times throughout the week. Mainly during times Lance had an interview on the other side of the city (Gwen still couldn't shake the feeling that Lance probably wouldn't approve of her "fraternizing with the enemy"). However, they had to be careful. If the press received wind that she and Arthur were together things would get ugly. Not only would it be seen as a betrayal politically to Lance (who was obviously opposed to Arthur), but also personally. She was still his girl, after all.

Each time they hung out, Gwen found herself liking them more and more. Merlin was a riot-always optimistic, and ready with a quip against Arthur. He was a caring man, who always seemed to know everyone on the street (there wasn't a single hour in which he stopped and talked with someone he knew). Also, he was always open-minded and up for anything. He was a perfect foil to Arthur's rather coarser nature. Yet Arthur wasn't that way with her. With Gwen, he was gentler, kinder, and generally more pleasant to be around (according to Merlin). She didn't know how Arthur was without her, but she was beginning to deny most of the stories of the press about him.

Arthur was constantly proving his media image wrong, and she wondered how he came about it. In fact, she decided to ask him about how it occurred at the end of the week.

They were at Arthur's house-just the two of them, for a change of pace. Elyan was away that week on vacation with Percival and Leon in Italy. Gwen was happy that he was having a change of scenery, but felt lonely without him in the house. She said something to that affect to Arthur on Saturday, and he immediately invited her over. He said that Merlin was out doing something or other, and the people who worked on the mansion were having a day off. She agreed, and before she knew it she found herself drinking tea at his kitchen table. It was lovely, just the two of them. They talked about many things before Gwen finally braced herself, and initiated the conversation she had been dying to know.

"Arthur, may I ask you something-it's a little personal," Gwen said as the precursor to her question.

"Of course, what is it?" Arthur said, setting his mug down. He looked at her seriously, and held her eye contact.

"Well," Gwen squirmed a little, "I was wondering-uh-you know how your reputation is, well, not so-um-great in the papers? I was wondering how that got about. I mean, it's not that I think you're like that at all! Because that's why I'm asking-I mean-you don't seem like the person they portray at all. Yet every story must have an ounce of truth in it?"

Arthur sighed. He hoped to avoid this question, yet he knew it was only a matter of time. He never wanted to lie to Gwen, though. He could tell that he was falling fast for her, and no relationship was built upon lying. So he decided to tell her the truth.

"Well, my father, Uther, he was never the most caring man in the world. My mother died when I was younger, and the only one who was with me was Morgana. I was older than her, though, so I was the one who had to raise her. It wasn't like we didn't have someone to 'raise us', so to speak. My father always left plenty of nannies. However, they indulged me on almost everything I wanted. It was probably what led to my foul temper. Eventually, I grew up, but I wasn't exactly the man my father was hoping for. I was a spoiled prat, who was also a bit of a womanizer. I was young, and I wanted to try new things. Most mistakes and experiences made in adolescence are forgiven by society. However, when you are the son of the famous Uther Pendragon it doesn't work out that nicely. You're always supposed to be perfectly poised-something Morgana didn't have as much as a problem with. That's what got my image originally ruined. I never had a shot before I went out the door, really.

"Eventually, well the story about my dad's death, and my sister isn't exactly a secret, but that's what changed me. Dealing with it all-I just realized it was time to grow up. Merlin-I know I couldn't have done it without him. He was my support for a long time. I know that he still is-and he never asks for anything in return. I don't know if I'll ever be able to help him in the way he's helped me.

"Anyways, after my change, the 'bad boy' image stuck. It's a money spinner if nothing else, although people don't believe it as much as the press think they do. Thank goodness for that, otherwise I wouldn't have a shot at this election!" Arthur concluded.

At the end of his story, Gwen felt sorry for Arthur. It was obvious that although he skimmed over most of the details, it still hurt to talk about. In fact, it looked like-aside from Merlin-this was the most anyone would know. She wanted to tell him just how much she appreciated the fact that he opened up to her, but a simple "thank you" didn't seem like enough.

"Arthur," she began, "Thank you for opening up to me."

She smiled, and squeezed Arthur's hand affectionately.

"So what about you, then? You know everything about my past now. Who IS Guinevere Leodegrance?" Arthur changed the subject.

"Well, there's not much to little old me, honestly," Gwen said, "I've lived in England my entire life. I wouldn't change where I live for anything in the world. I guess you could say that I was born into a poor family. We lived on welfare for a long time. My mother died when I was three. She contracted breast cancer. We were too poor to afford the check-up bill, let alone any type of treatment. So she died pretty quickly after that. My father hung on for a long while afterwards. He worked as a carpenter for many years until he became too old to do so anymore. He eventually switched to working as a mechanic-which is what started my brother's interest in the profession. He died a few years ago-he was in a car accident. Elyan's the only one I've got, and he helps me pay the rent. We had to work hard to get a good education, and my father was happy to see the fruits of his-and our mother's-labor."

Arthur wasn't sure what to say in response to Gwen's answer. He knew that she was a successful lawyer, and that her brother lived with her, but that was about it. She was so well put together, had such a great profession, Arthur was surprised to know about her history. 'Although,' he thought, 'You really can never judge a book by its cover.'

They drank their tea in silence for a few moments, collecting their thoughts. Eventually, Gwen broke the silence, and stillness, with her departure for home.

The next day, Arthur decided to call her. He kept calling, but she decided not to answer. She was busy, and didn't have time for him. On top of that, she really didn't want to investigate her feelings pertaining to the man. She had a feeling that Lance (and Elyan) would somehow not approve. Eventually, though, she answered and plans for chatting in a café were made.

December-Fourth Week of Knowing Arthur

Gwen was beginning to have a hard time finding a reason to not be with Arthur as the weeks went on. She knew that they were beginning to be great friends, but more than friends? She wasn't so sure. She couldn't be sure. She thought she loved Lance, but Arthur's presence had this knack of always getting in the way of her feelings for Lance. She wasn't sure what it was about him that was so compelling, but whatever it was bode no good tidings for Lance.

And sure enough, later that week she told one of the people she cared for most in the entire world the worst answer you could ever give someone to the question: No. She wasn't even sure what had exactly compelled her to do it (aside from the self-doubt). Yet here she was, looking foolish-and like an idiot, rejecting one of the best people in her life.

_-End Flashback-_

Gwen didn't believe in love at first sight, but now she wasn't so sure. Everything about Arthur practically screamed it. But she was still confused. It wasn't like Arthur wasn't a good man, he really was. It was more concern over preserving Lancelot's dignity and their own special relationship in a special place in her heart. She didn't want Lance to think the past two years together had been rubbish. Nor did she want to lose the memories associated with them.

Thus, Gwen's emotional state was clear. She was confused whether or not to name her and Arthur as friends or more, or if it was too soon after Lance to even be considering that . So when she found out that her court trial required the services of Arthur Pendragon-and Arthur Pendragon only-she wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Yet she knew that she had to be strong-even if she hadn't sorted out all of her priorities, she wasn't sure if she ever would.

So she called him, yet made sure to keep her voice as devoid of emotion as possible. She wasn't sure how the case would go over between them. It would either be really bad or really good (somehow, though, she couldn't escape the remembrance of how cases brought herself and Lance together). But whichever it would end up being, she wanted to prepare herself for the case and confrontation the next day.

To be continued


	14. Chapter 14

Note: Thanks to all of my lovely reviewers and readers for making my comeback feel really welcoming! As a virtual present, go look up youtube(dot)com/watch?v=10Zo4XDABIQ and youtube(dot)com/watch?v=S_cOltwNyXg these are two of my all-time favorite fanmade Arwen videos! As to the human rights legal jargon in this chapter, and the problems which occur, please tell me if I made anything seem like it would never "really" happen. I also tried to make the country which is responsible for the problems as anonymous as possible.

Chapter 14

Jarban and James. That's what the rather imposing sign said in front of a shiny, tall graphite building which Arthur found himself in front of at precisely 6:50am. He had allotted extra time for arriving in front of Gunievere's work to make sure he didn't arrive late. He straightened the Pendragon Red tie of his black suit, and ran a hand through his blonde locks quickly before going inside.

The lobby was comfortable. It wasn't too spacious, pretentious, or shabby. It was a lovely combination of moderation and class without going above their means. It had an inviting atmosphere which was perfect for a human rights office. There was a receptionist in the corner of the room, right by the lift. She was fairly attractive, with flaming red hair and startlingly green eyes. Upon seeing Arthur she sat up straighter and patted her hair down as he approached the receptionist her desk.

"May I help you?" the young woman batted her lashes at him and leaned forward slightly.

"Ummm yes. I have an appointment with Guinevere Leodegrance at 7. Do you know where her office is?" Arthur inquired.

"Of course, if you'll follow me, please," she said, starting to stand.

"Oh, un, that's okay. If you just point me in the right direction I'm sure I can find my way," Arthur said.

He didn't like being led around places. He would rather just figure things out on his own, and didn't have enough patience to be irritated this morning. It was already stressful enough to arrive and have to think about his encounter, and how it would play out, with Guinevere. He didn't need to pretend to listen to the small talk which was sure to come up with the receptionist. However, she was firm with her offer.

"Really, I insist," she proclaimed, and got up, signaling Arthur to join her in waiting to the elevation.

Her emerald blouse accentuated her eyes brilliantly, and the black, form-fitting pencil skirt with black stilettos emphasized her curvy form well. While waiting for the elevator she began to sway her hips in a tantalizing fashion, while humming softly to herself. She would've been a great tease if Arthur's mind hadn't been elsewhere. Noting that his eyes had a faraway look, she decided to take an even more proactive approach.

"So", she started, "What's your name, love?"

"Arthur," he answered.

The elevator dinged opened, and they both stepped inside of it. She pushed the button which indicated that Gwen's office was on the fifteenth floor.

As they silently swished shut, the receptionist opened her mouth again, "Nice to meet you, I'm Miranda."

"Pleasure," Arthur said noncommittally.

Miranda didn't know what to say in response-the tone of his voice carried a hint of finality. So the rest of the ride was spent in silence. Arthur utilized the time to count down how many floors he had until he had to face Guinevere. Miranda spent the time holding herself in a suggestive manner. She was trying to think of either the next conversation starter, or else a way to ask out the handsome man.

Ding!

They stepped out into a small space enough to accommodate the secretary's desk before it spilled out into a long hallway with numerous doors on each side. Each door had a number, shiny brass knob, and small letter box on the outside of it. There was also a little plaque attached directly under the numbers on the door with the names of the various employees.

Arthur strode up to the desk where this time a man was sitting. His body briefly tensed as the man fell underneath his gaze. He was a fairly good-looking man. He wasn't a big guy, but he was far from scrawny. An athletic build mixed with hazel eyes and blonde hair. Arthur's eyes narrowed suspiciously at this new development. He hadn't counted on Guinevere working with so many attractive people. Sure, it was only one man, but it was one man too many for Arthur's liking.

"Excuse me, but I'm here to see Guinevere Leodegrance," Arthur's voice took on an authoritative tone.

"Door 1521," the man responded without looking up to see who he was talking to.

Arthur relaxed slightly-the man was clearly bored with his job. Perhaps it was only an internship, or a "temporary gig" before the next one. He was about to go to Guinevere's office when he remembered that Miranda had led him up to the level. She was now standing in front of the elevator doors, a little affronted by Arthur's complete lack of interest in her.

"Erm, thanks for your help," Arthur offered.

Miranda considerably brightened at Arthur's thanks, and quickly moved forward. She suggestively stepped into his personal space and withdrew a business card from the inside of her shirt.

"If you ever want to meet for drinks sometime," she whispered in his ear before slipping the card into his front pants pocket.

Then she swaggered back towards the elevator, happy that her mission was complete. She blew Arthur a quick kiss before the doors shut on her form.

Arthur let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Miranda was quite a piece of work. He heard the younger man snort quietly under his breath. 'Apparently this wasn't the first time Miranda had pulled this stunt,' Arthur thought derisively.

'1517…1518…1519…1520…' Arthur counted in his head, '1521!'

He raised his hand to knock on her door when suddenly he became nervous. It was one think to want to see Guinevere, or, as Merlin would put it, _mope_ about after her, but another entirely to see her again since Christmas. The last time they had seen each other was when they had woken up in each other's arms (an experience Arthur would gladly repeat as soon as he could). And to make matters worse she had reverted back to her "Mr. Pendragon" ways. However, if he didn't knock on her door now he would be kicking himself later. So he gathered any amount of courage that he could find and knocked on her door.

….

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The gunshots rang out loud and clear for Merlin, but he didn't stop to look around. All he knew was that they needed to get away from their pursuer as fast as they could. He gripped his hold on his companion's hand even tighter as he led them through a series of mazes which made up the backstreets of England. It was only seven am but his day, it seemed, was only just beginning.

….

When she opened the door, Arthur wasn't sure what to expect. She had always looked beautiful, but a little vulnerable to him. But not anymore. She was wearing a severe hairstyle, her hair was pinned up into a tight bun and not a strand had escaped. Her make-up was minimal, but the effect was dramatic. It accentuated her already beautiful features. She was wearing practical, but stylish, black flats which matched her ebony-colored pencil skirt and blazer. There was a crisp light purple shirt underneath all of the black, and she wore a silver necklace which lay becomingly on her collarbone. What the most striking thing about her, though, was the change in her eyes. Arthur had previously seen them sparkle with happiness and fade with sadness, but he had never seen them like this before. There was a calm, cool look in Gwen's eye with a firm sense of determination and passion which her job seemed to give her. He could see now why she was a lawyer-he wouldn't want to go up against her in court. Yet he knew that she was still hurting. There was the faintest glimmer of it by the way he noticed she wriggled her toes and slightly bit her lower lip.

"Mr. Pendragon," she said in a rather stiff tone.

"Guinevere," Arthur responded.

"Thank you for coming," she ushered him inside and closed the door behind him. She gestured to a chair which sat across from her desk as she went to the other side of the room.

"Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Water?" she inquired.

"Some coffee would be great, actually," Arthur said. It was, after all, seven in the morning.

Gwen went to prepare the drinks and asked over the whirr of the machine, "Cream? Sugar?"

"Just black, thanks," Arthur answered.

She came back to her desk with two mugs with the logo of Jarban and James branded onto the front of it. Gwen set one in front of Arthur, and went around her desk, finally setting her own cup down once she had sat as well.

Her office was spacious, but one could tell it had a lot to do with arranging the furniture "just so" as well. There was a large window behind her old-fashioned looking desk. Her leather swivel armchair perfectly matched the one he was currently occupying, and the room was lined with a deep red carpet. 'Pendragon Red,' Arthur subconsciously thought. It was the exact shade of red on his family crest which his father had proudly hung above their fireplace. As his eyes swept over the surface of her desk he couldn't help but take a brief inventory of the contents-standard computer, pen holder, etc. There was also a large calendar which sat on a mat, making up most of the surface. There were various important dates scribbled on every inch of the page. Some of the things were crossed out, but then written out again, and others were written in handwriting so small Arthur had to squint to make out some of the letters. Everything was in purple ink. He faintly smiled at that, since he now couldn't see the color without thinking of her. Lastly, the thing which caught his attention was the only photo frame in sight. It was actually three picture frames in one-it folded outward horizontally, and each frame was connected by a set of hinges. It stood up all on its own. Arthur couldn't see the pictures well from his vantage point, but he could see that one of the pictures-the one on the left-was of herself and Lance. His heart sank at the thought-she still hadn't gotten over him. He could also make out a partial image of the center one. There were two men with part of who he assumed was Guinevere. He knew one of them was her brother-Elyan, but he didn't know the other man. He assumed it was her father, though, from the look of him. He was a spitting image of what a person could easily guess Elyan would look like when he grew older. Arthur could discern bright, big smiles on all of their faces, and felt warm inside at the thought of Gwen being so happy once. It instantly died though, once he remembered that she wasn't so happy anymore. But he couldn't make out the picture on the right-as hard as he might.

Arthur shook himself out of his reverie. He just wanted to be able to talk with Guinevere, but he wasn't sure if now was the appropriate time to do so.

"So Mr. Pendragon," Gwen began, relieving Arthur of his indecisiveness, "I have a case of a-erm-_particular_ nature to bring to you. Do you know who Mithian Smith is?"

Of course he knew who she was. Who didn't know who Mithian Smith was? She was the best Olympic gymnast-ever-in the history of England. She had won the gold medal in floor events for the past three years, and had already broken many of the world's records. She was also a part-time model, and extremely active in various functions for charity. On top of that, her family was also closely associated with his. Uther and her father were close business partners, and Arthur had spent most of his life around the lovely girl. She and he had got off really well, and at one point in time they had even dated briefly. However, time changes most things, and gradually they begun to drift apart as their lives took them separate directions.

"Of course I do. Mithi and I always got on really well. Why?" Arthur responded.

"Well, she has some-erm-legal trouble in South America," Gwen explained, "Well, not she so much as her boyfriend Ryan Gonzalez, who went to study the various exotic plant life there. However, he ended up in the middle of a protest against a rather-unfriendly-government's treatment of their workers. He's now in a lot of trouble with their government, and in a rather unpleasant predicament. They won't listen to him at all, so Ms. Smith is trying to find a better way to help him. She came to me, hoping I would have some expertise in this area. I believe we have a tentative solution to her problem, but unfortunately we need a government official to make the plan work. Obviously, we wanted someone who would be able to make an impression on the rather imposing officials, but wouldn't cause an international incident. Mithian refused to agree to anyone else besides you for the job, and I wouldn't dream of opposing such a strong requirement of a client. So I am hoping that you will be sympathetic to our cause, and help us."

Gwen crossed her fingers under the table. She had delivered the speech calmly and professionally, but her pulse had sped up so much she thought her heart would simply stop from exhaustion. She had only told a part truth at the end. Mithian had insisted Arthur, but it was _after_ Gwen brought him up in their conversation. She had forgotten that Mithian was an old acquaintance of Arthur's, but who wasn't one in some way or another? It seemed as if the Pendragons had connections everywhere. When Mithian's case first came her way, Gwen wasn't so sure she could pull it off. How on earth was she supposed to successfully get an unknown scientist out of a precarious situation without causing an international incident? On top of this, who would be able to help her? She didn't have any connections important enough to extend all the way across the Atlantic. So, naturally, she took it on. Gwen was trying to distract herself from her own problems by immersing herself in others, and this case certainly had a lot of problems. What she didn't expect was that with Mithian came Arthur. She really hadn't meant to say his name in their conversation. They were just having the casual small talk most people do when they first meet, and Gwen was telling her story about going to Merlin's art gala. Just a slip of the tongue that Arthur was there, and Mithian refused to have anyone but her old friend help. Gwen had just put off asking him until the last possible day so that they didn't have to interact. Today was that day.

"Anything for Mithian," Arthur said firmly, "Just tell me what needs to be done, and I'll try my best."

He neglected to mention the hope he felt when she had mentioned that Mithian had given him such a favorable impression, then the hurt when Gwen had implied she had only taken Arthur on because Mithian insisted. He hoped it did not give it away by the look in his eyes.

Gwen did notice, however, but chose to squish her writhing conscious in her gut for the moment. There were some more pressing things to be getting on with.

"Well for a start," she began, "I need to know if you would be able to confirm the state which Mr. Gonzalez is in-indiscreetly, of course, but perfectly legal and humane."

"I could," Arthur verified solemnly, "I have a few contacts there which owe me a few favors."

"Excellent," Gwen said.

And for the next five hours the two of them gradually began to piece together Gwen's plan, and open up to each other again. Gwen had forgotten what it was like to be with Arthur, and wondered why she had bothered enforcing a distance between them. He was unlike anyone else she had ever met. His humor continuously caught her off guard, and his smile was able to penetrate her firmest of defenses. Finally, it was time to take a short lunch break. They walked to the elevator together, and Arthur pushed the button. As the doors opened and they stepped inside, Arthur picked up where their previous conversation had left off.

"...so let me get this straight-you _and Leon_ both-"

"Yup," Gwen chortled as the doors shut, "We both ended up with a terrible disaster of a double date. Leon had a soda shower and mine puked all over my shoes."

Arthur laughed as the image of poor soaking wet-and sticky-Leon was left alone at a table with a mortified Guinevere and boy named "Timmy" came to his mind. He was pleasantly surprised that their conversation had been able to comfortably stray towards Gwen's personal life, but of course that wasn't the "official" term for their topic. They were on the subject of most embarrassing moments from their past.

The rest of the ride was spent in contented chuckles as the doors opened once again to the lobby. Arthur stepped out with Gwen and noted that Miranda was mercifully out to lunch.

"So where to, my lady?" Arthur asked Gwen in a rather grand tone. He accompanied his words by a sweeping bow, and took her hand and laid a kiss on it.

She colored prettily at his ridiculous actions, and withdrew her hand as he straightened.

Without any real anger, she scolded his behavior, "Mr. Pendragon, stop that! We're in my place of work-a _public_ place of work, I might add! People might see us!"

Arthur merely shrugged, and pointedly ignored her words.

"You didn't answer my question," he merely said.

"Umm…well, I actually don't know many places to eat around here. I'm usually so caught up in my work that I don't take lunch," Gwen admitted.

Arthur raised his eyebrows, startled, "You can't just _not _eat! That's not very healthy _Guin_evere."

There it was. The way he drawled out her name. Gwen simply couldn't deny the fact that she loved the way he said her name. But her conscious squirmed inside of her once more at her rejection of Lance.

"I know I know," she consented.

"Well then, the way for us this lovely afternoon is perfectly clear," Arthur said.

Gwen raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"We just have to go explore and see what's good!"

With that, he led the way out of the building and they went off to see what they could find. In the end they found a quaint bakery with lots of delicious steaming breads, and hot coffee. It was perfect for a quick lunch stop.

They sat down at a small table situated outside of the shop, and pulled out their purchases. Both had gotten a hot cup of coffee (Arthur's was black, and Gwen's had so much cream it had turned a dim shade of white). Arthur had gotten a simple ham sandwich on a baguette and Gwen had a croissant.

They ate in comfortable silence for a while, until Gwen said, "So Arthur, what do you like to do for fun?"

It was a simple enough question-a great conversation starter.

He swallowed, and answered, "Well, I'm not really sure. I don't really have much time to think about it, I guess."

"But if you had time? What would you like to do?"

Arthur had a suspicion that he couldn't say what was really on his mind. His idea of fun would be to be able to waste a day away with only Guinevere for company.

But instead, he said, "Mmm I guess work out. I know that seems so boring, but exercise really gets my heart pumping. I'm a footballer at heart, so I like to play whenever I get the chance. But I also like to box, fence, swim…basically if there's a sport to be had I like to do it."

Gwen smiled, happy that he had opened up a little for her.

"I was never any good at sports," she confessed, "I was always that kid in gym who was the last pick."

"You're kidding me!" Arthur exclaimed. He had a hard time imagining Gwen being the last pick for _anything_.

"I wish I were," Gwen laughed without bitterness, "But I completely understood. _ I_ didn't even want to pick me!"

Arthur smiled a little at her light-hearted tone, but didn't appreciate the self-depreciating humor. So he decided to ask her, "Ok, so then if not sports, what do you like to do for fun?"

Gwen thought for a moment, "I'm not really sure either! I guess I don't have a lot of down time-like you."

"Oh come now, surely you must like to do something!" Arthur probed.

Gwen was silent for a little before bashfully claiming, "I really love to sew."

Arthur indicated for her to elaborate on her point.

"All sorts of things," she said, "I actually make all of my own clothes."

Arthur was impressed. No wonder everything Guinevere owned looked so good on her-they were custom made. Not only that, but they were stylish, functional, and complimented her beautifully. He didn't know anyone else who made their own attire.

"That's impressive."

"You must be teasing me," Gwen laughed, "Most men don't think that sewing is very impressive."

"No no, I'm being honest here! I don't know anyone else that makes their own clothes."

Gwen's cheeks took on a pleased coloration.

"Well maybe I should make you something some time," she suggested.

"Maybe you should," Arthur smiled. He would love anything she gave him, but an article of clothing that she had poured her time and attention into would be priceless. He hoped that she would sincerely make him something one day.

"Well if I did, what color would you want it?" Gwen inquired.

His heart filled with hope. It sounded like she was at least seriously considering it.

"Pendragon Red," he said confidently-until he noticed the look on Guinevere's face. It was a mixture of puzzlement over the shade, and shock that he would have the audacity to name a color after his own name.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, I don't know another name for it. It's the color of the carpet in your office," he offered.

"Oh, you mean scarlet? Why do you not know another name for it?"

"Because it is the color that my family crest is made up in-always. So my family has called Pendragon Red since our crest was invented."

Gwen didn't know anyone else who was important enough to have their own crest.

"I see…" she drifted off, not knowing what to say next.

They sat in awkward silence for a bit until Arthur started up again, "What's your favorite color?"

"Lavender," she answered automatically.

Arthur smiled-he was pretty sure that was her favorite color, and he was happy that he was correct.

"It looks lovely on you," he said, indicating her blouse.

"So we've got favorite color down. What's your favorite fruit?" Arthur asked jokingly.

Gwen laughed, and their conversation carried on over their various "favorites". They shared a good amount of laughs until it was time to head back to Gwen's office for further discussion on Mithian's case. As they entered the lobby once more, laughing over an amusing sign Guinevere had spotted, Arthur noticed that Miranda was back.

She was as observant as a hawk. She noticed how Arthur was acting a lot friendlier to Gwen than he had to her, and how Gwen was glowing in a way she hadn't since she had first met with Lance. Miranda had met Lance when she was just a lowly coffee runner/intern at the firm. She was obviously taken with his good looks, but noticed that the girl people said was Guinevere Leodegrance had apparently "marked her territory" on him already. For as she was leaving for lunch, both Guinevere and Lance were together-laughing, glowing, and going out to lunch.

She hadn't seen Guinevere act like that in a long time, but with Arthur it seemed to come naturally for her. Even more than naturally-it seemed like Guinevere was meant to act that way. As if her behavior really belonged, and so did his. They complimented each other in a way that was slightly disarming. Any outsider, like herself, would assume that the two were in a relationship. They weren't holding hands, but their arms brushed at sporadic, but consistent, intervals. They were also noticeably comfortable-yet nervous-around each other.

'So much for him,' she thought a little bitterly as she watched them go up in the elevator together.

Arthur had worried that Miranda was going to follow them up, but she had remained in her chair. She merely stared at them as they made their way back to Guinevere's office.

….

And so the rest of the day was spent in discussion over Mithian's case, and by the end of it Gwen was exhausted, but pleased with their work. They made a good team. They were efficient, and they were both constantly coming up with new ideas-bouncing them off one another until they found one which worked. Mithian was going to be very pleased with their progress. However, despite her lovely day with Arthur, Gwen's conscience was still wiggling around inside of her. 'What would Lance say if he saw me now?' she wondered.

To be continued


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It was raining-hard. Arthur took Gwen's hand in his, and held it tightly as they made their way back from her office to his house. They just had to make it to the tube station semi-dry, but apparently that wasn't going to happen. When it rained it England, it _rained_.

As they sat soaking wet onto the seats, they began to catch their breath as the tube started to lurch forward again.

'It had been a very good day,' Arthur thought as he snuck a quick glance at Guinevere who was fussing with her hair beside him. Another kink had been smoothed out in Mithian's case, and Ryan's future looked bright. To celebrate another mini-victory in their project, Arthur had spontaneously asked Guinevere if she would like to have dinner at his place. He had nearly clamped his hand over his mouth-he didn't know if she thought it was too straight forward of him to request. But his emotions had been caught up in the surge of adrenaline he had felt in their "win", and he was hoping against hope that it hadn't cost him his new relationship.

The first week of February. That was when Gwen and Arthur had begun to slowly repair their damaged relationship. Throughout Mithian's case their paths began to intertwine again, and bit by bit Arthur had managed to drag Guinevere out of her cautious cocoon. At first, Arthur had no idea where to begin, but with Merlin's advice (and a little bit of luck), he had managed to build up a tentative friendship.

_-Flashback-_

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled throughout the enormous mansion.

He needed the man's advice for once, and of course that was when he couldn't be found. Today had progressed nicely. It had been his first day of seeing Guinevere since December, and everything had gone swimmingly. The only problem was that he had no idea what to do next. They had worked extremely well together, and he felt the same connection between them as they worked on the case as he did when she first accidently fell onto his lap. However, he wasn't sure she felt the same way. She still seemed pretty cut up over her break-up with Lance, and didn't seem to act much warmer to himself. Yet, she had claimed that he was the reason why she broke up with Lance. It was rather confusing, and his suspicions were merely confirmed by the picture he had seen on Gwen's desk that day. Pictures of her family, and Lance held the place of honor for the only personal touch she really had in her office. He had yet to see the final picture of the three-piece frame, but he was sure it wasn't of him. Thus, he wanted there to be a reason it _could_ be him. But how to go about it?

Thump. Thump. Thump. The footsteps came pounding down the stairs, from the direction of the guest bedroom.

"What?" the lanky man replied rather irritably, "I am kind of in the middle of something."

"What could possibly be more important than hearing about what happened to me today?" Arthur asked bewilderedly, yet slightly sarcastically.

"Loads of things," Merlin muttered back, but nonetheless kept his stance in the stairway.

"Well stop what you're doing, and come to the living room," Arthur simply said, and stalked off in the direction of said place.

He sat down comfortably in his favorite armchair in front of the television, and waited for Merlin to arrive. A few minutes later he was not disappointment, and he watched as Merlin slouched down onto a spot on the couch.

"So what happened?" Merlin asked, a slightly annoyed tone had crept into his voice, as though he still hadn't forgotten that Arthur had interrupted his activities.

So Arthur began to tell Merlin about his completely fantastic day. The dark-haired man merely nodded and grinned at the right intervals, but his eyes betrayed his body language. Although they showed that he was interested in what the fair-haired man had to say, his attention wasn't anywhere near the topic Arthur had steered the conversation in.

"…so anyways, what do you think? How should I go about…this…._relationship_…with Guinevere?" Arthur asked. He really hated to admit his reliance that had become commonplace on Merlin, but situations like these made Arthur a little more desperate than he normally was.

"Well," Merlin started out slowly, as if his brain was still trying to put together the information had laid on him, and make sense of it all, "She needs her space because of the whole Lance affair…"

As Merlin drifted off with his train of thought, Arthur inclined his head towards him. Merlin jolted back to the present as if Arthur's slight movement had reminded him of what he was going to say.

"Basically just take it slow," Merlin simply stated, "Because good things come to those who wait. And Gwen seems like a pretty good thing. But it will take time for her to heal from her break-up, you know. I mean, it was the most serious relationship she's ever had, it's not like she can just bounce back from something like that. And the last thing you'd want to be is a 'rebound', right?"

Once again, Merlin knew exactly what Arthur needed to hear, even if he didn't like it. Thus, he merely grunted in response.

"So what should I do, to, as you say, 'take it slow'?" Arthur inquired cautiously. Just because Merlin was usually right, and uncannily shrewd didn't mean that Arthur couldn't be hesitant to ask for his help. Sometimes Merlin was downright shifty, and Arthur hated to ask anyone for assistance, anways.

"Well, just be her friend."

It was a simple statement, filled with the type of honesty and truth only Merlin could produce. And for the first time since before Arthur had found out that Guinevere was dating Lance, he felt like he knew exactly what to do.

_-End Flashback-_

Now it was the end of March, and things had started looking up for the future of their relationship. He and Guinevere saw each other on a daily basis due to Mithian's case (which Arthur thanked the heavens for every day). They had fallen into a comfortable routine. Guinevere and Arthur would show up at Jarban and James everyday at 6:50 on the dot. She would get the coffee, and he would get the pastries for breakfast. They would enter the building together, and Arthur would hold open the door to her office once they got up to her level. Then, they would both sit down at Gwen's desk and exchange several pleasantries as they happily munched away, and sipped their coffees. He would usually start off, and ask about her evening from the previous night. She would respond in kind, and then inquire about Merlin's heath from him. It wasn't a formal, stiff affair in the morning. Their routine had the feeling of two people who did this sort of thing every day with each other.

Slowly but surely, he had gotten Guinevere to open up to him. He had even gotten her to stop calling him "Mr. Pendragon". Likewise, she had been steadily worming her way into his heart bit by bit. The attraction between the two was obvious, and Arthur had suspected that he had developed the soft spot in his soul from her since the day they had met. It had been Guinevere who had been more guarded. He couldn't blame her, since she was technically with Lance first, but then had broken up with the man for him. Although it bothered him that he sensed that she had been reluctant to expose herself to him due to lingering feelings for her old flame. Regardless, Arthur had decided to be patient. Good things come to those who wait. That was what Merlin had told him, and Arthur had absolute conviction in his belief that Guinevere would be the best thing that had ever crossed his path.

Eventually, it was clear that they could safely call their relationship "friendship" by the end of February. They regularly met, called each other, and hung out together (both by themselves and with others). Arthur had wanted to be more for quite some time, but he remembered that he had to wait for Guinevere to come around to him.

Today, he thought he had blown one of the best things to ever come his way. However, he was pleasantly surprised to hear Guinevere accept his invitation excitedly. She had never been to his house before, she had said, and wanted to see what his "domain" looked like.

They were completely soaked by the time they made it to Arthur's doorstep. And he and Guinevere could not stop laughing once they had caught their breath. Arthur wasn't sure why they couldn't, but he had a feeling it had to do with the exhilarating feeling he had in the pit of his stomach. Their hands still hadn't disconnected since leaving the office, and he could sense the rather pronounced tingling feeling in his hand because of this. Arthur opened the door, leading Guinevere into his large entryway, while they were still chuckling over nothing. However, once he had he abruptly heard it stop.

He glanced over anxiously at her. 'Crap,' Arthur thought, 'What if she is absolutely appalled at how large my house is? Or maybe it's because she just realized where she is and is going to run away…' His thoughts being more dismal by the second, he strengthened his grip on Guinevere's hand before looking at her.

Once Arthur had the courage to see her countenance, all traces of fear and doubt vanished instantly to be replaced with soft amusement. Her face was positively lit up with wonderment-and just at his entryway!

He grinned proudly and said, "Welcome to my humble abode, Guinevere."

"Humble?" Gwen said in amazement, "It's much more than that Arthur Pendragon! It's…"

She struggled with her words before she decided on, "Amazing."

Arthur's ears turned a bright scarlet at her praise, and his chest was positively bursting with happiness at her compliment.

"But," she continued on, in a slightly teasing tone, "It would be more wonderful if it had a ladies' room…?"

The question hung in the air as Arthur gallantly gestured to a hallway to the left, "It will be the third door on the right."

She smiled appreciatively and started to walk that way before Arthur called out from behind her, "I'll be in the kitchen waiting for you. Come back to the entryway and walk straight to the back!"

Gwen turned around and nodded before going off in search of the power room.

….

As Arthur stepped over the threshold into the kitchen, he heard someone humming-loudly. It was an upbeat, slightly obnoxious sound with no discernible tune.

"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed as he saw the raven-haired man dancing in small circles around the kitchen, eating a small bowl of cereal, "What on earth are you doing here? I thought you were going out?"

"I was, but, uh, something came up," Merlin said hastily, "So I'm here to stay tonight! Unless something has come up?"

Arthur groaned at Merlin's mocking tone. Having Guinevere over for dinner was not going to go over smoothly with Merlin. Jokes about his manhood, pride, and various other aspects of his personality would have to be made a laughing stock, and the meal would not be able to go over without a hitch (Merlin had a knack for doing exactly that which Arthur_ didn't_ want him to do, and his natural clumsiness simply increased this ability tenfold).

"Something actually _has_," Arthur stated confidently, "And I would appreciate it if you would leave the kitchen now."

He had no idea when Guinevere would be arriving in the room, and he wanted Merlin far away from it before she entered.

"Ooohhh what is it?" Merlin taunted childishly, but in a good-natured way.

"None of your business," Arthur snapped.

"Fine then! I'll just go upstairs then," Merlin retorted as he grabbed the rest of the cereal box and stalked out of the kitchen, and up the stairs. Arthur noticed that instead of turning towards his studio or room, Merlin had once again gone up the stairs which led to the guest bedrooms, and Morgana's old room (amongst other things).

'Strange,' Arthur thought, but he didn't have much time to dwell on it before Guinevere had entered.

"So what's for dinner?" she asked brightly, looking around the rather large state-of-the-art kitchen.

"Well, since my cook's off tonight, I suppose it will end up being whatever I can make!" Arthur attempted to say in his cheeriest tone. However, it ended up sounding slightly strained, which Guinevere picked up on.

"How about we find something together?" she suggested, "Then we can cook it together too. My mother had a lovely family chicken recipe. If we can find any poultry I'm sure we can make it."

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. Guinevere had apparently sensed his unease with the whole situation, and had stepped up to help him save face.

He couldn't be more grateful to her, and his eyes expressed as much when he said, "That sounds like an excellent idea!"

So they spent the next few hours in happy companionship. Gwen had tried to teach Arthur how to cook (and ended up failing miserably). And when she had been making their dessert Arthur had ended up with a lot of flour in his hair (due to the fact that he had snuck some batter into his mouth before it was ready). Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening which soon transported itself to the living room.

Arthur had popped in a movie which Guinevere had indicated that she would love to see over dinner, and the two of them settled down on the couch contentedly. They had a blanket stretched out over their bodies, and Gwen had further reclined onto the couch. She had propped her feet up behind her on the sofa, half lying on the sofa, with her head on Arthur's shoulder. Arthur had maintained his position of sitting, and had been secretly going crazy when he felt her head rest upon his body. Instantly, wafts of her shampoo, lavender perfume, and her natural smell which could only be described as _Gwen_ assaulted his nose.

He wasn't sure when she had taken a hold of his hand either, but it started to register about halfway through the movie. And somehow it was because of this action that Arthur knew that it was finally the right time. It was time to do what he had yearned to do since that chilly November day.

"So Guinevere," he asked her quietly.

"Yes Arthur?" she responded happily.

"Would you…mind it…if we began…you know…dating?" Arthur hadn't meant the words to come out so jerkily, but his nerves had begun to get to him.

Her answer seemed to take a lifetime to respond. And during the silence, he had never become more acutely aware of his ability to perspire before now.

"No, I would not mind that at all," Gwen smiled.

And with that, she turned her head upwards to find his only a fraction of an inch away. Both of them smiled gently before tasting the sweetness of the other's mouth. They had leaned into what was inevitably the making of the force of destiny, and pure bliss had resulted.

….

Lance was lying on his couch with a cold towel over his face. His curtains were drawn like the expression on his face-could anyone have seen it. He had been working like a maniac on the campaign to draw his attention away from his broken heart, but today he had finally broken down. It wasn't like he had allowed himself to, but walking out the door today seemed like a particularly herculean task. Instead, he had called in sick, closed his curtains, and lay down on the couch with his towel. It was a lot easier then facing reality.

Gwen had rejected him a few months ago, but he couldn't get her out of his head. He regretted the way he treated her, but his anger and hurt had got in the way. He wanted to apologize, but he wasn't brave enough to muster up the courage to face her again. And if she rejected his apology he wasn't sure that he could live with himself.

'That Pendragon sure knew how to steal everything he wanted,' Lance thought. Although he had gotten the voters in January and February by riding on sympathy (in particular from his female entourage) from his break-up, floods of sympathetic mail were no longer pouring in. And, because of this, so had the votes. Thus, by the end of March Arthur Pendragon had not only stolen Lance's advantage in the race for Prime Minister, but also Guinevere-the love of his life.

To be continued


	16. Chapter 16

Note: Sorry this has taken me so long. Spring Break has forced me to focus on some "last minute" tests and vacation plans! But you know it's time to write some fanfic when your dream last night merged reality with fantasy. No joke, I had a dream I was_ in_ Merlin with the warlock himself and King Arthur when all of a sudden I switched to reading a very descriptive narrative about their adventures I was witnessing. It was happening at the same time, and it basically gave me the wake-up call I needed! To TheCookieDoughMonster's review, yes I am American! But I absolutely adore British things! And thanks to all of the reviews for Chapter 15! I am always grateful for any feedback, but this past chapter has really received some particularly lovely comments!

Chapter 16

April showers bring May flowers was a phrase that Lance had heard before. It was in the letters sent from his sister when she was still alive in America. Although Lance had never contacted her back, he had never forgotten the words. Supposedly, it meant that good things can come out of tough times. When his sister had died he had found out what truth the saying had. That truth was his relationship with Gwen. She was the shoulder he literally cried on as he coped with his loss. Their bond was a beautiful thing. They had both respected and trusted each other deeply. It was the type of foundation true love was built upon. Of course, once Lance had started becoming a public figure these traits were strained. Gwen hadn't done very well adjusting to the idea of being in the spotlight, but Lance had slowly made her more comfortable.

He had been all ready to propose to her. He had been thinking about it from the moment she was able to comfort him after his sister's death. She just felt right with him, and he with her. Of course, they hadn't been dating for very long when the event had happened, so he bided his time. He had purchased the ring to propose to her almost immediately after his grieving period was done. However, he didn't have the guts to actually do anything about it for months. Of course, once he did, it was too late.

So now he was sitting on his couch in a darkened room, wallowing in self-pity. It was the precise kind of act which Gwen would admonish, and he himself despised. There was never room for self-pity when there were plenty of people less fortunate than himself.

He took another breath, sighing heavily before slowly standing up. He had been going, going, going for so long, burying his emotions, it felt good to take a moment for himself. But now it had passed. And he had to go into work today.

Lance got up and dressed himself in his slightly ruZCXzmpled work clothes. 'My grey suit matches my mood,' he thought grimly. He grabbed his keys and shut the door behind him. It was time for another dull Monday at work.

'Oh great, it's raining, another omen of bad fortune,' Lance thought as he trudged along his normal route to work. He quickly turned into his favorite coffee place, run by his Spanish friend David.

"Hola amigo!" Lance greeted him cheerfully as he opened the door.

David was behind the counter making the coffee, and turned to smile at Lance.

"Hola! Como estas?" Lance was greeted with a dazzling smile from his childhood friend.

"Eh, terrible," Lance sighed, switching to English as he went to talk with the Spaniard. He approached the front of the counter and leaned heavily on it. There was no line at the moment.

"Why?" David asked in a thick accent as he mimicked Lance's actions whilst polishing a piece of the coffee maker.

"Gwen. She said no." Lance's answer was short and to the point. But David knew what he meant. He had been Lance's confidant since their boyhood.

David stopped polishing the piece of machinery and started bustling around behind the counter again.

"Oh no! Are you kidding me, hermano?" David exclaimed over the sound of the coffee maker.

"I wish," Lance responded glumly.

"Well then here," David said, thrusting a mug of the steaming liquid towards him, "Your favorite. On the house."

Lance silently took it, and nodded a quick thanks. He had time to sit down, and he could tell that David wanted to talk with him about her. As he made his way to the nearest open table, however, a ringing of a bell signaled that a new customer had come in and David had to do his job.

"I want espresso-two shots with, a biscotti" a commanding, rather snobbish, voice rang out.

"Of course," David responded.

As he busied himself making the order the skinny blonde made her way over to Lance, "May I sit here?"

Lance gestured to the empty seat, and decidedly occupied his attention onto his mug. He realized where he had seen this woman before. She was the girl with whom Arthur attended Merlin's gala all those months ago. He hoped that she wouldn't realize that he was Gwen's date. _Was_. 'Such an ugly word,' he thought. He remembered that they had had a good time talking at the party, but he didn't feel like entertaining today.

The blonde-Vivian, wasn't it?-was now rustling around in one of her many shopping bags that she had. It was slightly annoying, yet Lance knew that he shouldn't be angry at a woman who did not influence Gwen's choice to "choose" Arthur over him. If anything, Arthur might've burned her in a similar fashion to how he was currently mending a broken heart over Gwen. And maybe her way of coping with it was shopping. It would certainly explain her multitude of brand names which now surrounded her feet like a cloud.

She finally procured from its depths a newspaper. 'Slightly anticlimactic,' Lance thought as he sipped from his mug. He had been watching these proceedings out of the corner of his eye because he had nothing else to occupy his mind. However, as she opened up the paper the headline nearly spit out his recently swallowed coffee.

It read: GUINEVERE LEODEGRANCE PLAYS WITH BRITAIN'S LEADING MEN?

Beneath its large heading was a photograph of Arthur and Gwen exiting a cab together, holding hands, unaware of the camera's presence.

"Tisk tisk," Vivian muttered as she rifled through the pages.

"Excuse me, but may I borrow that?" Lance abruptly asked. He needed to see what they were saying about Gwen, and Vivian looked like she was almost done anyways.

She huffed slightly, but nonetheless handed Lance the paper. He nodded his head in thanks and quickly devoured the article, reading:

Lance DuLac and Guinevere Leodegrance: Britain's favorite political power couple since William and Kate. However, this seems to no longer be the case, according to an inside source. The couple apparently broke up during an ill-fated Christmas party when Prime Minister candidate Mr. DuLac proposed to Ms. Leodegrance, and she rejected him. A close friend of Mr. DuLac's says, "The rejection was a huge surprise to us all. They never fought, and they seemed perfectly happy and in love. Personally, I believe an affair might have been the reason for the separation. Gwen-as she's known to her friends-has a strong conscience, from what Lance tells us, and she might have felt too guilty to continue on with Lance." And an affair might have been what was eating away at Ms. Leodegrance.

Recently discovered reports have indicated that she had been seen around Merlin Emrys, the renowned writer and artist, and-most surprisingly of all-Mr. Arthur Pendragon, also known as Mr. DuLac's competition for the title of Prime Minister. An insider who claims to be closely associated with Mr. Pendragon confirms these reports, "Arthur has been inseparable from Ms. Leodegrance. I haven't seen Arthur like this over a girl-ever. He only has eyes for her." Another source tells us that Mr. Emrys could actually be the catalyst behind this new-found romance. However, whatever the reason it is clear that the two of them _have_ been spending an awful lot of time together (below left Mr. Pendragon and Ms. Leodegrance are seen exiting the Pendragon Mansion together). Mr. Pendragon's publicist refused to comment on the matter, stating, "Mr. Pendragon's personal life should remain that way-personal."

But what_ is_ it about Ms. Leodegrance that has both men who are competing to take control over Britain losing control over their feelings? Perhaps it's her good looks, or maybe it's something to do with the idea that you always want what you can't have. Whatever the case may be, voters on both sides seem to dislike this turn of events. In particular a Mrs. Walker voices her strong opinion when she says, "That young lady is just playing both sides. Who is she to break Lance DuLac's heart just to go and toy with Arthur Pendragon's next? I'm not saying that I am partial to either side, but what Guinevere Leodegrance is doing is just plain wrong. If you ask me she's just doing it all to somehow benefit from them-or maybe its to get some publicity. All I know is that it all just seems a bit dodgy to me."

Who indeed knows what Ms. Leodegrance's motives are? But her change of alliance certainly helped Mr. DuLac with his campaign. The man who was trailing behind in the polls easily surpassed his opponent's after a wave of sympathy (mainly female) came flooding in from all corners of Britain. However, it didn't seem to hold on for very long as Mr. Pendragon's campaign seems to once again outshine Mr. DuLac's. According to last month's reports Mr. Pendragon has again surged ahead-but now with a very minimal lead of 0.3% of the votes. With Ms. Leodegrance's change of affiliations, there no longer seems to be a clear winner of this election (which was formerly Mr. Pendragon). With the elections coming up this May it will be exciting to see what will happen not only pertaining to Britain's future, but to Mr. DuLac's, Mr. Pendragon's, and Ms. Leodegrance's as well.

Lance couldn't believe his eyes. The article had basically trashed Gwen's reputation simply because of rumors that she was in a relationship with Mr. Pendragon now. Or at least, he assumed they were merely tall tales. Whatever her relationship status was it gave the papers no right to do write these things about her.

As he continued to stew about it, he heard a throat clear.

"Excuse me, but are you done with my paper now?"

Lance snapped out of his reverie as he handed the paper to Vivian again. As he did so their hands brushed, and suddenly Vivian looked up at Lance, directing their attention away from the paper he was giving her.

"Wait a second-Lance? Lance DuLac? Is that you? Why I haven't seen you since the gala a few months ago!" Vivian was gushing now, all thoughts of the awkwardly suspended paper vanished.

"Oh, yeah," Lance mustered up a smile. He really didn't feel like answering Vivian's undoubtedly forthcoming questions. However, maybe he needed a little distraction. And she certainly could provide one.

"So what are you doing here?" Lance offered up, half smiling as he took a sip from his previously forgotten mug.

"Oh just relaxing after a quick shopping trip. I quit my job, you know-as Arthur's intern, I mean. That man is nothing but naïve and trouble. When we went to the gala he hardly spoke a word to me! And he acted so cold! Of course, you would know all about the trouble he and that Guinevere can cause…I read that article-so tragic! I'm deeply sorry that it didn't work out. But there's plenty of fish in the sea, right?" Vivian chattered away breathlessly.

Lance nodded slowly in all the right places. Vivian certainly was a distraction like no other Lance had ever had. Although she talked about his broken relationship he couldn't help noticing how her perfectly coiffed curls bobbed up and down on her shoulders.

"…And what about you?" the question seemed like it was hastily tagged on at the end, the owner suddenly remembering their manners.

"Oh just grabbing a quick mug before work. David-the owner-and I are long-time friends," Lance said slightly robotically. He had tuned out of her babbling as he was mesmerized by her hair.

"Oh really?" Vivian cooed, "Well do you have any openings? Since, you know, I'm looking for work now thanks to Mr. Pendragon."

She laughed hollowly, and sighed deeply-posing "just so" so that she would appear as the perfect picture of being forlorn and destitute.

"Actually, I do," Lance surprised himself by answering.

It was true that his campaign office had been looking for an intern for a while now, and he had had several interviews already. He wasn't quite sure what had made him say this suddenly, but maybe it was because he felt a sort of connection with the blonde. She and he had indeed connected at the gala, and they had both been burned by their lovers. Maybe this would be the start of something new.

….

Merlin hadn't been to work in several weeks. Not that his line of work had set days-or that Merlin really needed the money. However, Arthur didn't need to know that his best friend had been seeing increasingly less time in his studio and more time in the area on the opposite side of the house. He might have noticed, if he hadn't been too busy dealing with Gwen and his emotions, but Merlin seriously doubted it. If he wanted to, he could be quite secretive, and Merlin had no idea what could be more important-or secretive-than that which he was guarding right now.

"Don't worry, I'll be right back," he said before leaving one of the multitude of empty rooms in Arthur's abode.

"You are going to come back, right?"

The question caught him as he held open the door, preparing to leave. And he stopped at the threshold, turning around with a quizzical look on his face, as if he couldn't believe that his companion had just asked him something like that.

"Always," his clear honest voice rang out.

To be continued


	17. Chapter 17

Note: Thank you for all of your lovely reviews! I hope you all know that they are my main motivation to keep on writing! Sorry this took so long to update, but I had major writer's block. Hopefully, there are enough lovely Arwen moments to make up for it :)

Chapter 17

'Well this is odd,' Gwen thought, 'My bed isn't usually this lumpy.'

Her eyes were still shut as she was just waking up. In the mornings she liked to have a moment of peace, and explore her surroundings using her other senses before opening her eyes. To Gwen, once her eyes were opened it was officially the start of her day-and she had to get her butt out of bed. But it didn't feel like she was in her bed this morning.

She mentally sent out her other senses to identify the strange cause of her bed's sudden change in texture...'and hardness,' she thought, for her bed was not only lumpy, but firm, built, solid. And her sheets were all wrong. The fabric which covered her was fuzzy and worn in-unlike her starched cotton sheets. And now her sense of smell had kicked in and she realized that it didn't pick up on her usual lingering traces of lilac perfume on her covering. Instead, it smelled like a musky scent of a man's cologne. 'Well this is odd,' Gwen thought, her brow creasing in confusion. Befuddled, Gwen turned her mind to the cues her ears were sending to her brain. That was when she suddenly realized she heard breathing. And with the epiphany, her sense of touch kicked on high alert once more as she became conscious of the fact that with the breathing came the rising and falling action of what she originally thought to be her bed.

She was laying on what seemed to be a moving, hard, sturdy apparatus which was clearly not her bed, and was covered with an unknown shroud. And-now that her senses were heightened even more so-she realized that part of what she mistook to be her bed had draped itself over her shoulder. Thoroughly terrified now of where she was, Gwen's eyes shot open.

It took a moment for them to adjust, and the picture before her was slightly fuzzy. But she soon realized that she was laying on her side. Then the picture focused in on the flesh-colored limb which draped, and was gently squeezing her arm. Her eye dropped down to her own body, which was covered with a woolen blanket, and slightly tucked into which she thought was a mattress. Now, however, she understood that it wasn't a mattress, but a much larger body than her own-a hard, toned, muscular, solid body from what Gwen could tell through their clothing.

Her brain still groggy with the remnants of sleep, she didn't know who is stranger was. She was partially afraid, but mainly eager to know who this clearly handsome stranger was that she had decided to take a kip on. So she tentatively looked up.

As she did so, her eyes were locked onto the face of the man who had haunted her dreams that night. It was none other than Arthur Pendragon. The memories of what happened the previous night flooded back to her.

_-Flashback-_

After they shared their first kiss, Gwen and Arthur had forgotten about the movie. The kiss wasn't supposed to go farther than just a simple, sweet, touch of the lips. However, the built up tension between the two of them for the past few months had other ideas-it simply had to be released. So instead of turning their attention back to the telly, they found a much more stimulating activity to entertain themselves with.

Gwen had made her standards to Arthur very clear when they worked on Vivian's case together-she was saving herself until her wedding night. But a good old-fashioned snogging session with her boyfriend was completely within Gwen's ethics. And wow! What a session it was! Gwen had thought she knew what passion meant from Lance. They had dated for years-obviously they had made out. But Arthur took her to another level-one which was far out of this dimension. He was gentle with her, but fierce at the same time. His lips roamed over hers with a hunger that she was taken aback by-at first. A desire which was fueled by her fervently returned affections once she rose spectacularly to the challenge he had placed before her. As they lost themselves in each other, Gwen had the distinct feeling that Arthur was actually holding back all of his attentions to her.

'If this is Arthur holding back,' she thought as she rearranged her grip, and fisted a handful of his blonde locks tighter in her hands, 'I can't even imagine what he's normally like.'

She couldn't have been more accurate if she had read his thoughts. For Arthur was indeed holding back. Guinevere was experiencing only a little bit of all the feelings which he had associated with her. The feelings of frustration over the fact that she was unattainable, feelings of victory as she finally agreed to be his, and most of all feelings of an all-consuming love which was rapidly filling his entire being. She had told him that she was saving herself-a noble act which Arthur fully supported. However, her close presence and his instincts were currently gaining ground over the more gentlemanly aspect of his personality. He wanted her now. So he forced himself to hold back-so some sort of decency would be preserved. But it was difficult. The fervor with which Gwen was now returning his kisses was rapidly matching his own, and Arthur wasn't sure he would be able to control himself if she became anymore inflamed. Her desire was fanning the already all-consuming flames which burned in his heart. It was out of his mortal powers to resist that strong of temptation. So he surfaced for breath-it served the dual purpose of replenishing what was rapidly becoming a necessity of oxygen and a chance to rein his desires back in check.

He was on top of Guinevere, who was laying on her back on the couch. They had been in a tight embrace, but now Arthur propped himself up on his elbows. They both had wide grins plastered onto their faces, and their chests rose in time with the other as they struggled to regain their breath.

"So…" Gwen said breathlessly.

"So," Arthur agreed in an equally strained breath.

The moment of passion now broken (much to Arthur's simultaneous disappointment and relief-he wasn't sure he would be able to restrain himself-try as he might-against any more similar encouragement from Gwen), Arthur carefully sat up from his position on the couch. Gwen followed suit, and soon they were sitting side-by-side on the sofa once more (although slightly sweatier).

"So is this what I am to be expecting?" Arthur roguishly grinned.

Gwen flushed a deep scarlet as she realized that only shortly after agreeing to be his girlfriend, they began to have the most intense, passionate, inflamed make out session she had ever partaken in.

"I wouldn't mind it," Arthur said, his grin expanding even more so (if it was possible) on the lower half of his face, "But just_ warn_ me next time."

Gwen swatted playfully at his shoulder, coming out of her acute feelings of embarrassment. Somehow, what would've been a situation which would have been awkward with Lance didn't feel that way with Arthur. He had a way of making her feel confident and secure that no one else had ever accomplished before.

"Oh don't worry, I will," Gwen said smiling from ear to ear, "But as _pleasurable_ as these activities have been, I still want to watch the movie."

The sudden change in topic, and Guinevere's allusion to their previous actions caused Arthur to let out a bark of joyous laughter. Of course, it would be just like her to switch to a more "delicate" topic, yet still compliment him at the same time.

"As you wish, my lady," Arthur said as he took her hand and pressed his lips to it.

So they started the movie halfway through the plot, as it had continued to run as they were engaged in a rather vicious snog for part of it, but neither of them seemed to mind. Instead, Gwen put her feet up and leaned her head against Arthur's shoulder. This caused the blonde-haired man to violently grin even more than he had before, and for Gwen to sigh contentedly.

He hadn't realized how late it had truly gotten before he realized that Gwen was fast asleep on his chest. They had shifted slightly as they watched the movie to a more comfortable position. He leaned further back on the sofa, allowing Gwen's head to more easily droop down onto his broad chest. Her feet were still tucked up on the cushions. Sometime before she had fallen asleep Arthur had retrieved a blanket for her-a soft, woolen, Pendragon red blanket. He made a mental note to see her wrapped up in the shade more often as she had snuggled into his side once more-it made her positively glow. The shade complimented her nicely, and Arthur felt as if the shade had branded her his for the entire world to see. And while Arthur's mind was slowly beginning to succumb to sleep, Gwen's dreams were filled with thoughts of what the future would bring.

_-End Flashback-_

So they had spent the night together-fully clothed and in close quarters-cuddled against each other.

Arthur was still sleeping peacefully, Gwen could tell from the gentle rise and fall of his chest. However, as she shifted ever so slightly so that she could view the peaceful look on his face (one that she was sure she would never get tired of), his eyes shot open. Suddenly, Gwen found herself staring into what could've been the exact shade of the sky on the brightest English sunny day.

"I didn't mean to wake you. I'm so sorry-" Gwen began, but Arthur cut her off.

"Good morning to you too Guinevere," Arthur smiled.

Gwen shut her mouth closed-Arthur clearly wasn't mad at her. In fact, judging from his posture, Gwen could tell that he had no intention of leaving where he was anytime soon. He looked like a man content with all that was right in the world.

They lay there, Arthur holding Gwen in his arms, for a few moments as they relished in the comfortable silence between them, before Gwen spoke up.

"We have to move at some point Arthur," she said gently, nudging Arthur in the ribs.

The sun had just begun to work its way across the heavens, and they both had a busy day of work ahead of them. Arthur's part in Mithian's case would most likely conclude that day. Everything looked promising, and Ryan's release seemed within grasp. However, that didn't mean that they still didn't have a lot of work to do today-and t hat meant they had to get off the sofa.

"Mmmmm," Arthur mumbled, turning his face away from the room and burrowing its way into her hair. His arms decided to wrap fully around Gwen as he did so, firmly locking her in her position of half laying on top of him.

"What was that?" Gwen laughed as his nose brushed against the back of her neck.

"I don't want to," Arthur whined.

Gwen giggled, about to chastise him once again, and maybe squeeze in a morning kiss. However, at that moment Merlin had decided to walk into the room.

"Listen Will, I know the risk that this favor is costing you. But you know I wouldn't ask for it unless-"

He abruptly stopped talking into his cell phone as he realized that Gwen and Arthur were still on the sofa which they had occupied during their movie. The young man clearly did not know that Gwen hadn't gone home the night before, and that Arthur was still in the room.

"I'm going to have to call you back," Merlin said hastily into the receiver before hanging up and turning his attention to his friends.

"So I take it that she said yes?" Merlin asked Arthur, flashing his trademark foolish grin to mask the seriousness of his previous conversation.

Apparently, Arthur hadn't noticed Merlin's sudden change of subject as he grumbled, "Oh shut up Merlin."

He picked up the pillow lying beside him on the couch and threw it at the raven-haired man. Merlin dodged the pillow with ease, his reflexes well-trained to avoid the daily items which were aimed for his head. He decided to take this moment to wisely duck his head out the threshold he had just crossed, and disappeared, yelling over his shoulder, "Hello to you too Gwen!" as he vanished out of sight.

"That _idiot_…" Arthur mumbled under his breath.

Before he could go any further, however, Gwen had risen up off the sofa, and was currently stretching in the center of his living room. As she stretched with her eyes closed, Arthur drank in all of the curves of her body, marveling at how lovely she looked after their kip on the sofa.

He continued to stare as Gwen opened one eye self-consciously, asking, "Arthur, what are you doing?"

She abruptly stopped stretching, her arms coming down to her side, and opened both of her eyes. She stared back at Arthur, but before she could say another word he jumped off the cushions with lightening speed. He raced over to her and wrapped his arms firmly around her waist.

He leaned in for a kiss on the nose, stepping back with a grin, cheerfully saying, "Nothing at all!"

Then he grasped Gwen's hand, and led the way to the kitchen for breakfast. It was going to be a long day, but with a morning like this one, Arthur had a feeling that it was going to be a good one.

To be continued


	18. Chapter 18

Note: I had no idea the reaction I would cause by making Gwen save herself for marriage! Call me old fashioned, but I think that's the way to do it :)

Chapter 18

Gwen felt slightly embarrassed at the prospect of leaving Arthur's home in the same outfit she went in with. She wanted to go home before work and change, but she was worried what her brother might think if she came home in the rumpled day-old clothes-what if he thought that she was doing a "walk of shame"? Or else, if she just went straight to work, what would her co-workers say? She internally groaned at the thought.

However, Arthur's mind must have been attuned to hers because he mentioned to her casually during breakfast, "My sister…some of her things are still here…if you wish to wear them."

Gwen's eyes widened at the prospect, though. 'Wearing Morgana Pendragon's old clothes?' she thought incredulously. Morgana was supposed to have thousands of designer brand outfits that Uther supplied her with. The material was too rich for Gwen's personal taste. But the gesture Arthur made of even offing his sister's clothing (a sister he refused to speak of with almost everyone), was monumental in itself. It was a courtesy Gwen knew that she couldn't refuse-aside from that, she really did want to see this famous collection of clothes. Despite being a maid of simpler tastes, she could still appreciate fine things. However, she had to be sure it was an offer that was genuine instead of a mere transitory whim.

"Are-are you sure Arthur?" Gwen asked.

"Positive-if you want to," Arthur said earnestly. He knew that she was embarrassed at the thought of going in public in an outfit which would normally constitute as a walk of shame.

"That would be lovely, thank you," Gwen said in a small voice-she was hoping that she wasn't offending Arthur by accepting his inquiry, despite his answer. If anything else, he might think that she was ashamed to be with him-which was far from the truth.

But despite Gwen's fears, Arthur took her acceptance in his stride, leading her to Morgana's old room, saying, "Follow me."

They left the remains of their breakfast in the kitchen and went up the staircase in the direction of the more "unused" side of the house.

Most of the lights were off, but one had a dim shadow cast underneath the crack of the door-had Arthur been paying attention to anything other than finding Gwen suitable to wear he might have investigated, but he was entirely focused on taking care of Gwen.

So as they reached Morgana's old room he opened the door and ushered Gwen into her-much larger-walk-in closet. When he turned on the lights he heard an audible gasp emit from beside him. It was admittedly a rather ridiculously large space. Practically the size of a medium-sized apartment, Morgana's clothing filled the room to the brim. There were shelves practically falling apart under the weight of the designer shoes, and drawers almost bursting with sparkling jewelry, perfumes, and other little accessories. And, of course, the wall space was hidden behind the massive rows and rows of dresses, pants, blouses, skirts, jackets-everything possibly imaginable for making the best, most exclusive, fashionable outfit. Everything was color-coded, by season and year as well. It could've been a miniature mall-Gwen's head began to spin with the amount of money she could raise to help the more unfortunate with even a handful of the wardrobe.

"Please, pick out anything you wish. I have no need for these anymore," Arthur said with a small smile. It was the first time he could walk into the room without the feelings of bitterness and loss stifling him-yet another thing Gwen had changed about him. However, he realized, it was due to seeing the pleasure she received from the multitude of clothes that made these feelings go away-he would do anything to render her as speechless as she currently was.

"Arthur…I-I can't…," Gwen feebly tried to protest even as her eyes had caught onto a lovely purple spring dress. At first, she had been surprised to find something that was her style in Morgana's closet-mainly they had very different styles (at least from what she had seen in the press). However, after seeing the extent of her closet Gwen wasn't nearly as taken aback as before.

Arthur had caught the glint of desire in her eyes, though, and pushed her to accept, "Yes, you can Guinevere. It's okay, honest!"

So, with slight hesitation, Gwen went over and took the purple dress off its rack and went to change.

When she came back, Arthur's eyes widened and his jaw hung slightly open. She looked absolutely stunning, and he was pretty sure he forgot to breathe as his eyes drank in her image. The dress was a perfect fit, it hugged her curves tightly, and the neckline was ever so slightly low cut. It came to a V-shape, and the short, cap-like sleeves were made out of thin, sheer lilac gossamer. The bottom swished out in a pretty, becoming manner just around her calves, and the white flats she found to go with it contrasted nicely with her skin. Then and there Arthur made a silent promise to himself to buy Gwen more dresses like this one. She looked flawless.

Gwen eyed him nervously. He was just standing there staring at her, unmoving, eyes wide-did she look absolutely horrible in the dress and he was too afraid to tell her?

"Sooo..?" Gwen hesitatingly asked.

The question hung in the air as Arthur tried to regain some coherency to his thoughts. But once he did, he beamed as he finally managed to put them into words, "You look stunning, Guinevere."

She blushed prettily, not knowing what to say to Arthur's compliment other than, "Thank you."

Arthur grinned-she didn't know how to take a compliment, and it was just another thing he loved about her.

"Shall we depart? Otherwise, we might be late to work."

….

They strolled the streets of London arm-in-arm together as they went on to James and Jarban. They were almost to the office, the first time as a couple without a hitch, when Gwen spotted the newsstand on the corner just before the door.

GUINEVERE LEODEGRANCE PLAYS WITH BRITAIN'S LEADING MEN

The headline had caught her eye, and held it with a kind of horrible fascination. She stood stock still, and Arthur had been yanked back to her side as he attempted to move forward without her.

"Guinevere, what-" Arthur began before following her eye line to the cover of the paper.

"Oh no," he groaned.

He was used to the papers writing horrible things about him. Gwen, on the other hand was not. He looked at her nervously, unsure of how to act in this situation. Fleetingly, he wished that Merlin was there to help him out, but it was banished as quickly as it came. If he couldn't help his own girl, what type of man was he?

Meanwhile, Gwen was processing the headline. Her mind was reeling. She had actually never wanted fame. She was just a girl from the poor end of London, with only a father to raise her and her brother. She had wanted to make a difference in the world, help obtain world peace, but not by being the headline news story for the press in this way. In fact, she didn't want to be famous at all-she had just wanted to help the world, settle down, maybe start a family-she had always loved kids-and just be surrounded by the people she loved. But then she had met Lance. Disarmingly charming Lance during that stupid case. She wasn't sure whether she should regret taking it on or not now that she saw the consequences of her work. If she had never taken that case, she still might have met Arthur. After all, it was just a chance happening on the tube. And that would've been okay. What was not okay was the press spreading lies about her reputation about playing with Britain, and their leaders.

Suddenly, she felt ill. She knew she wasn't going to work today-she wouldn't be able to concentrate, nevertheless actually make progress with Mithian and Ryan's case. And the last person she wanted to see was Arthur. She wasn't sure she could handle looking so weak in front of him again-she was supposed to be strong.

"I'm sorry Arthur, but I have to go," Gwen hurriedly said before hastily removing her arm from his, and dashed off towards the tube station again.

It took Arthur a split second to register what she had done before he chased after her. His quick reflexes from his days playing rugby and soccer allowed him to pursue her with ease. But as he finally caught a glimpse of her black curls bouncing behind her, a mass of people started to come in from the train. So on the steps down towards the platforms, the influx of people made him loose her trail. He pounded the wall with his fist angrily-he couldn't believe he had let her get away! He immediately wanted to go to her, check up on her, make sure she was okay. But where to begin? Would she go to see Merlin-wherever that man had scampered off to? Or would she go home? Or would she go to an unknown friend's apartment? The options were numerous, but he had knew he had to start looking or go mad with worry. So with that, he set off in the last direction he saw her running.

….

Gwen had bolted through the streets, running all the way to her home in the Red District. She slammed the door behind her, locking it firmly into place, before quickly retreating into her own room, bolting her own barrier behind her. She didn't know when she fell asleep because her last consciousness moments were spent in a full on sob. How could people think such terrible things about her?

….

"Oh no no no NO!" Gwen moaned as she opened her eyes.

Elyan had stormed into her room, waking her up with a tabloid in hand-the caption: GUINEVERE LEODEGRANCE PLAYS WITH BRITAIN'S LEADING MEN? splashed across the front page.

"Gwen, what the heck is this?" Elyan shouted.

He was rarely angry with his sister, so this was a first for Elyan. But he hadn't known about her break-up with Lance, her affiliation with Arthur, or anything, really, to do with what had been happening in her life recently. He could've blamed it on all of the craziness which was going on at work right now, but he knew that he couldn't. It was no excuse for his inattentive carelessness. He should've been a better brother-protector-and noticed these things about her. And now here was a magazine-exploiting his sister's personal life for a monetary advantage.

"I-I-" Gwen tried to get out, but she couldn't.

She didn't know what to say to Elyan. He had been so distant recently with his new promotion that she hadn't been able to inform him about anything at all. Not that she necessarily would have. She couldn't even begin to fathom what she would've said to him. Somehow she didn't think that: _"Oh hello Elyan, I just wanted to let you know that the reason I rejected Lance's proposal-the man who you have come to love as a brother and sincerely hoped that I would marry-was because of his opponent Arthur Pendragon. This is the same man I am beginning to have growing feelings for. And it is the same Arthur Pendragon who is the son of Uther Pendragon-the man you despise because of his involvement in international weaponry and warfare. Just thought I should let you know. Oh, and despite what you think, Arthur really is a loveable person. The press just doesn't represent him fairly. He is loyal, kind-hearted, steadfast, and true. I know that you are wary of any man I date, but I honestly think that you two would really hit it off. So what do you think?" _would go over very well.

"I'm sorry," she finally decided on.

She tried to put in as much heartfelt sincerity as she could into her words. She felt like she was sorry for a lot of things recently. She was sorry for not telling Elyan the details about what had happened between her and Lance. She was sorry for breaking Lance's heart. She was sorry that she couldn't introduce Arthur to Elyan without worrying that something bad was (probably) going to happen. She was sorry for getting Arthur and Lance into a messy love triangle which was splashed over every newsstand in London. However, she wasn't sorry that she was dating Arthur Pendragon.

Elyan sighed, "I know."

He couldn't remain angry with Gwen for long-how could he? It was her personal life. What she chose to do with it was her business. It was the press that was being invasive, and should be feeling the brunt of his anger. After all, people broke up and got together all the time-the only difference is that Gwen's break-ups became national news.

"So…tell me all about this Arthur guy?" Elyan tried to coax gently-he knew that Gwen responded best to compassion and empathy.

She had wanted to tell him, spill everything, but Gwen couldn't take it anymore. The constant gossip about her, the turbulent emotions she felt for both Arthur and Lance, and the general happenstances which had occurred ever since that fateful day that she literally fell into Arthur's lap had become too overwhelming. So she did the only thing which her mind and body would allow her to do-she broke down and sobbed whole-heartedly onto her brother's shoulder.

'Perhaps that was the wrong thing to ask', Elyan thought. He didn't want his sister to break down In his arms, but at the same time he'd rather it was his arms than some pretty boy he couldn't trust. When suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Gwen, Gwen," Elyan tried to soothe his sister, stroking her hair, "There's someone at the door. I have to go answer it. I'll be back soon, okay?"

He smiled soothingly at her as she responded with her own, small watery smile.

Elyan made his way to the front door quickly. He wanted to get back to Gwen as soon as he could. He was fully prepared to turn his visitor away with a hasty apology, but when he opened the door he was dumbstruck.

For on his threshold was none other than _Lance._

To be continued


End file.
